A Wedding Meditation

A meditation written for an upcoming wedding. Thanks to LutheranChik for the story that opens it:

Along the fence line of a farmer’s field grew several "volunteer" apple trees -- whether they got there via passing birds or farmers tossing discarded apple cores along the fence, who knows. Anyway, one of the trees was actually two trees -- the apples on either side were different colors and shapes and flavours. But over the years the two tree trunks had grown together in such a way that they couldn't be separated; they were distinct, yet also one. Perhaps the metaphor for a good marriage -- grounded in the same "soil," growing in the same direction, yet maintaining the uniqueness and personal integrity of both parties.

Marriage is a blending of two individual lives to be shared each with the other. K and Q, today you stand up in front of all these people and pledge to share each other’s lives: the good and the bad, the fast growth and the slow, the warm and the cool. Today you plant a tree to symbolize your life together, trusting that as the tree grows so will your love.

What does it take for a tree to grow? It needs roots that seek out and absorb water and nutrients. It needs a trunk that is both strong and flexible – “strong enough to bend” as the song goes. It needs branches and leaves that reach for the sky, gathering the energy of the sun and transforming it into food. It needs the right environment: enough water (but not too much), the right type of soil, protection from the harshest weather and from insects. And it needs time, time to develop, time to get stronger.

What does it take for a marriage to grow? It needs to be rooted in love, with roots that seek out nourishment for both partners. It needs strength to withstand the storms of life but also flexibility so that it bends when needed. It need partners who reach out for the light in the world, pulling in what is healthy and good to feed the hearts of them both. It needs people who cultivate it, who keep the conditions good, who protect it from attack, and help each other heal from the scars that life throws at us. And it needs time, time for the relationship to grow deeper and stronger.

It is a fact of nature that not every acorn grows to be an oak, not every cone becomes a pine. Some never germinate, some start to grow but for on reason or another are stopped. Some grow for but a while and some become tall and mighty, providing shelter to many. Yet in every acorn, every cone there is the potential for a mighty tree.

Relationships are the same. Some never get started. Some are started but because the conditions aren’t quite right they end soon afterward. And some, the ones where the conditions are right, where the care is taken to ensure growth become strong and long-lasting, providing shelter and comfort not only to the partners but to others around. In marriage we work to create these relationships, well rooted, with a broad canopy of loving support.

Growing such a marriage is not always easy. In every life there are storms that toss us around. In every life there are bumps along the road. The challenge is not to avoid all of them. The challenge is to sway with the wind, to absorb the bumps, to work through the tough times. After all none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. But in marriage we promise to love and support each other flaws and all.

Q and K, today as you start the shared life that is and will be your marriage, may you grow strong together. May your marriage be rooted in the love that Paul describes saying it “bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. May you grow in love together over the years.
And as you grow together remember that there is a third strand to the cord of your lives together. If you try to make a braid from two strands you will find that it doesn’t hold, but if you add a third strand the braid is given strength and stability, less likely to break or to unravel. God is present in this covenant of marriage as that all-important third strand, the one that adds strength when the others are stretched to the breaking point.

K and Q, may you both be strong enough to bend. May you reach out together for the sky. And may you always be blessed because you are together: to pick each other up, to keep each other warm, to share the joys and sorrows of life. And may God be with you today and always, for God is love. Amen.

For June 29, 2008 -- Proper 8, 7th After Pentecost

OPENING PRAYER
God who numbers the hairs on our head,
we come into your presence to sing and worship.
God of life, and that in abundance,
we come to hear again how you would have us live.
Gracious God, in this time together,
fill us with hope, awaken in us the possibilities of your Way, and send us out renewed in purpose for speaking your Truth and sharing your Love. Amen.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God, you call us to a daring and radical discipleship,
but often we would rather take a safe and popular road.
You call us to be ready to risk being unpopular, causing dissension among our family and friends,
and we confess that we prefer to tone down your Word for the sake of peacefulness.
You call us to share boldly the promise and possibility of faithful living
But we confess that we are afraid of what the consequences of such boldness might be.
…time of silent prayer…
Over and over again God tells us not to be afraid. Over and over again God reminds us that there is a path to New Life. God calls us back to that path no matter how often we turn aside. We are a forgiven people!
Thanks be to God! Amen.

From June 26, 2005 -- Proper 8, 6th AfterPentecost

This comes from the archives since we aren't dealing with the Genesis story this year. A Confession Prayer based on the sacrifice of Isaac:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his Beloved Son Isaac,
And we give thanks that we no longer sacrifice human beings.
But then we think of those who are let fall through the cracks. We remember the ones who are left homeless so that our taxes stop going up. We remember the ones who are underpaid for their labour so we can have cheaper products. And somewhat chastened we say:
Well at least we don’t sacrifice our own children.
Or do we? For then we think of our reluctance to change how the world operates, a reluctance which degrades the natural world our children will inherit. And we think of those parents whose dreams for their children drives them to push so hard for academic, athletic, or artistic success that the desires of the child get lost. And thoroughly chastened we say:
Thank you God, that you do not require such sacrifice.
And in so saying we ignore the sacrifices that are asked, preferring the known to the unknown, the old to the new, the comfortable to the risky. And so we say:
God, help us to know what sacrifices to make, and not to make.

(time of silent prayer)
Here then is Good News. Rather than condemning us for the sacrifices that we do and don’t make God keeps calling us back. We are forgiven and restored. We have another chance to live in God’s Way.
Thanks be to God who is Love. Hallelujah! Amen.

For June 22, 2008 -- Proper 7, 6th After Pentecost

CALL TO WORSHIP
In the busy-ness of the city,
We strain our ears to hear God’s voice
In the wild-ness of the forest,
We pause to sense God’s presence.
In all the wilderness places and times of life,
We find that God is with us, to guide and to comfort.
Here, now, in this place and time,
We come to hear God’s voice, sense God’s presence, and seek God’s comfort.
Let us worship together, let us pray…

OPENING PRAYER
God of the wild places in our world,
We come to this place to share your presence and hope with our friends and neighbours.
God of the wildness in our hearts,
We come to this place seeking peace.
God of Life, in whom we live and move and exist,
As we come together, may You be a part of our circle. As we sing and pray and listen may You remind us that there is always hope. Amen.

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
We have left the comfort of home to come to the lake,
And have found that God is here.
We go out to live in a world that has many types of wilderness
We go trusting that God is in all of them
And as we go into the wilderness places of life, we go carrying the hope and the promise of God.
With that luggage on our travels we can bring hope where there is despair and light into the darkness.
Go out secure in the knowledge that God is always with you, go out trusting that you are not alone.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

For June 15, 2008 -- Proper 6, 5th After Pentecost

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God, you call us to be people of character,
but the struggles that are said to grow character are often hard to take.
Or sometimes the suffering doesn’t seem worth the reward.
and so we would rather avoid them altogether.
Help us to remember that growth comes with work and a price.
As we struggle with life’s lessons keep us filled with hope.
And when we are tempted to give up and give in,
give us the strength to endure and forgive us when we fall short of the task.
…time of silent prayer…
Listen, for here is Good News. God is constantly working to help us grow in faith. As we grow we meet with success and failure. But still God helps us grow. We are constantly forgiven and given a new start.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

For June 8 2008 -- 4th Sunday After Pentecost

Disclaimer: These resources are not based on the lectionary readings for the day.

CALL TO WORSHIP
Begin by playing a few rounds of Uyai Mose (MV #2)
Uyai mose, tinamate mwari. Come all you people, come and praise your Maker.
We come to worship, we come to be refreshed, we come seeking hope.
Come, now is the time to give our heart
We come to recommit ourselves to the Divine purpose for life.
Uyai mose zvino, Come, let us worship our God
We come to worship with prayerful hearts. Let us pray…

OPENING PRAYER
God of the wild winds, God of the calm waters, God of the green trees and bright flowers,
we gather here in your presence to sing songs of praise.
In our time of worship move among us we pray,

filling our hearts with hope for the present and for the future, filling our beings with purpose, filling our souls with energy.
May this hour leave us better able to be your face in the world. So be it. Amen.

OFFERING PRAYER
Creating God, our Source of Life in abundance, you have given us many gifts in life. Here and now, as part of our worship, we return them to you. May the gifts we share, time and talent and treasure, be ways that our faithful lives become vehicles for your faithful Love. Amen.

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
Our worship has ended, our work continues
We go from this place to share the hope of God with a world too often given to despair.
And when the going gets rough?
Yes what about when the going gets rough?
When the going gets rough may you be strengthened by the knowledge that the God we meet in worship is the God we meet in the world. May you walk with God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer every step of life’s journey. Amen.

For May 18, 2008 -- Trinity Sunday

CALL TO WORSHIP
In the darkness and the chaos of the beginning,
God spoke words of light and life.
And still the Creating Spirit flows through the world,
bringing us hope, bringing us promise.
Come, let us worship the Creator, the Source of all Being, the Fountain of Life. Let us pray…

Offering Prayer
Creator and Re-creating God, you have given us the earth, the air, the water, life itself. In gratitude and humility we give back from our abundance, that your life and love and hope would spread throughout your Creation.