Category Archives: Love

He’s been lacking some serious facetime on the blog, so here’s a completely gratuitous picture of me and my boo before the Tedeschi Trucks Band concert that we went to Sunday night. The concert, btw, was amazeballs!

At the time of this photo, a storm had just passed (hence my fallen curls. wah!) and we were still blissfully unaware of the snapped in half tree waiting for us when we got home.

Gah, I am still hyped up on energy from the royal wedding this morning. I jumped/lurched/LEAPED out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5:15 so I wouldn’t miss a moment. If you didn’t see it unfold, I’m sorry. It was so, so, so, so much better watching it live than pictures or recounts can ever do justice.

But beyond the fashions (Kate’s dress? Omg. Pippa’s dress? dang girl! The queen? LOVE YOU! Eugenie and Beatrice’s hat? Go big or go home, I say.), my favorite part of the whole affair was the Bishop of London’s sermon. I thought it was just beyond perfect and really reinforced for me why marriage is important. A wedding is just one day, but a marriage is for the rest of your life.

Since the Bishop’s words embodied the importance of marriage better than I ever hope to do, I’ve pulled my favorite excerpts below. You can click to read the full sermon after the jump if you’re interested. It would be worth your while, I think.

In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

And for me that’s what marriage is about. Releasing your self centeredness so that you may come fully to know love and working to be the best partner you can be. Granted, this is a daily struggle and sometimes I fail, but it’s one I’m happy to fight for.

It’s worth it, after all.

Full sermon after the jump.

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To the untrained eye, this picture might just look like a cup of coffee with pumpkin spice syrup being enjoyed on a sunny morning. But it is more than that. much more.

This picture represents a lesson in compromise.

You see, Jason is not a fan of the pumpkin spiced coffee I hold so dear this time of year. Hence, I do not buy the pumpkin spiced coffee, but then he is not allowed to complain when I spend $13 on pumpkin spiced latte syrup. That’s what marriage is all about. Compromise.

And not letting anyone mess with your morning coffe.