Reader, I Married Him

This is the 26th anniversary of the start of the relationship between a short little undergraduate and a tall skinny grad student. A bit of naughtiness in the church basement -nothing to worry about. (Seriously... how much trouble can you get into in a church basement?) But the rest is history. Our actual marriage was in September, but today marks the beginning.

It's the same old story. It's nothing you haven't heard a thousand times. Yet, I really believe that when people decide to join forces for a lifetime -people of any description whatsoever- God smiles and says "Behold, I make something new."

I've been thinking a lot about marriage and what it can possibly mean when the partners are separated by half the globe. And it's not as though we're the only ones to have to figure this out. In spite of my narcissistic angst over being separated, I do realize that, for example, people send their partners off to fight in wars and enjoy no certainty at all as to whether or not they'll ever come back. I can get on a plane and go see Math-Man any time I want. Comparative luxury.

Anyway.... my musings include the non-original thought that marriage allows a private decision to matter publicly. The things we do in the privacy of our home (not THOSE things....work with me here) do matter in the life of the polis. We didn't have grandiose formulations of our marriage-mission when we started out. (Which is a little weird when you think about it. If any two people were going to sit down and write a marriage mission statement, you'd think it would be us.) But had we written such a statement -or even thought about one for two seconds together - it would have involved something about bringing life into the world.

Not just babies, although I'm delighted that they turned up. But LIFE -energy, vibrancy, justice, some light to the dark places. We haven't done a particularly great job; there have been years-on-end when we forgot the focus. Yet even without our conscious attention, the mission is still there in the background, waiting for us to attend to it. Perhaps God is still about the business of creating something new with us.

On Sunday, I hope to return to the scene of the crime for the U of C Folk Festival, but that church basement just won't be the same all by myself ;)

Tags: family stuff