A Gathering of Love

As many of you know, my son recently was married. I could say many, many things about the wedding, but I won't - at least right now. Except to say that it was one of the happiest times in my life, only rivaled by a few other experiences, such as the wedding of my daughter or the births of my children. But one of the fantastic things about a wedding in good spirit is that many show up with an overwhelming desire to wish the newly married couple well. This feeling often just wells up  in the guests and grows so quickly at the time that the bride and groom are showered with a great outpouring of love and joy. 

Perhaps we do that because we sense the hope and the tender vulnerability of the fledgling couple, like a ship cast upon, as yet, uncharted waters, en route to unknown lands. I think that behind all of that is our realization (perhaps only unconsciously) that all of the great undertakings in life take faith - in prodigious quantities. To do all of the important things we have done, or will ever do, requires a belief that, from a dispassionate point of view, is manifestly foolhardy. But we also know that our meaning and purpose in life cannot be reached without traveling right through the center of that "Bermuda Triangle" of unknown outcomes.

We know the vulnerability of the new couple. And we know that where they are going is the way of the future. So we love them for having the courage to venture forth and we want to fill them with all of the love and support that we have inside us to give them some extra "provisions" for the journey.

What does all of that have to do with the above-pictured tiny flowers gathered in the shape of a heart? Life requires hope and faith - even if you are the tiniest flower or the simplest little plant on the side of the trail. And all for what? To express the love within us, and dream of what we can be.

I think: If that tiny, tiny flower can believe enough in itself to blossom, then maybe so can I.

4 comments