Sunday, August 17, 2014

Learn from Each Other and Live in the Moment


Saturday evening (8/16) I officiated Jordan and Jesse's wedding ceremony at Aldredge House in Dallas, Texas. Here are the personal remarks I shared with them and their guests:

 

Jordan and Jesse are two individuals, who are both deep and thoughtful, and at the same time fun-loving and light-hearted. They started off as close friends, and held on to that aspect of their relationship, even after they started dating. They have great senses of humor, and like we comfortably can do with our truly close friends, they are not afraid of laughing at themselves, at and with each other.

 

They each have thought deeply about their relationships with their spiritual and cultural traditions, and have sought to learn about each other's. This has enabled them to begin authentically forming their own new family traditions.

 

There are though, two very important aspects of every successful relationship, in which they truly excel. First, they each recognize that in a loving relationship, if you open yourself up to it, the other person can help you become a better person. Second, and closely related to this, if you allow for this, your daily, even mundane, experiences can and do become elevated through a relationship of true love.

 

So, Jordan and Jesse, keep it up! Stay serious, but not too serious, stay friends, learn from each other, and live in the moment. If you continue to that, you've got it made.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

I Have Found the One Whom My Soul Loves

   
Yesterday, Saturday 8/9, Reverend John Williamson and I co-officiated Andi and Scott's wedding ceremony at Union Station in Dallas, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:
 
Andi and Scott's story of how they came to stand before us here today reminds us how much luck can play a part in pivotal moments of our lives. They both describe their first encounter so beautifully. I know you will be shocked that the bride's description is a little more romantic...
"I looked over and saw... He had the brightest eyes and I was done at that moment. I literally had music pop into my head (The Blowers Daughter, the line "I can't take my eyes off of you")... I couldn't stop looking over and just thought "There you are. I finally found you." So as silly as I thought the concept was, I knew the second I saw him - love at first sight. I didn't want to let him get away, and he wasn't coming over to me, so I got up my courage, marched up to him, and... we started talking. I ate all of his food, he stayed with me when his friends left, and at the end of the night, I told him he should ask me for my phone number. Luckily he did and he drove me to the car. I got out, and on an impulse, jumped back in and laid a big smooch on him, then ran away!"
 
What does this story tell us? First, it tells us that even if like these two, you have more degrees than a thermometer in matters of the heart (romantic, not cardiac...) you just have to go with your gut.
 
Second, it reminds us that though we think we, of the digital age, can control much of our lives, much of what happens to us is more attributable to luck, karma, or faith, take your pick.
 
Third, and perhaps most important, the last two points of going with your gut, and luck being paramount, should humble us, but NOT stunt our choices and our faith in the future. If we consciously live in the present, embrace our circumstances, and do our part, we may not control our fate or specific outcomes, but we can control our destinies and alter the course of our lives. If we do, we can say like Andi and Scott, in the words of the Song of Songs, and in more than one way, "Matzati et she'ahavah nafshi. I have found the one whom my soul loves."