Let's Just Take it Slow...

Saturday evening, Reverend Ken Ingold and I co-officiated Shannon and Oren’s wedding at the Hickory Street Annex in Dallas, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

I promise this does not happen often, but the other day I was thinking of that moment in cinematic history, when a great thespian said, (in my best Vin Diesel voice) "I live my life a quarter mile at a time." Yes, I speak of Vin Diesel, of course, as Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious.

Now humor aside, there is actually some real depth here. What Vin speaks of is living in the moment. Now, living in the moment, mindful living, really taking it all in, is not easy, but if you can do it, there is nothing more rewarding. This is a mindset that Shannon and Oren have truly mastered, and they are better for it.

How do you get there? Well, ironically, and this is a point that is very clear to Shannon and Oren, if not to Vin, you have to take your time. As Oren says, "We have known each other for ten years and experienced many positive and negative things in life. Throughout all of it we have always been there for each other..."

When you take your time, when you slow down, like Shannon and Oren do, you realize in Shannon's words, that, "Life is so short and as scary as it is, tomorrow is never guaranteed." And that makes you appreciate your partner in this adventure we call life much much more. Through that, in Shannon's words, you can reach the level where you "love each other unconditionally," and be "on the same page about what we want in life."

And so, in the song "Just a Kiss", of which I will quote just a few words, it is as if Lady Antebellum are singing of Shannon and Oren's love:

"Caught up in this moment

Caught up in your smile...

We don't need to rush this

Let's just take it slow...

Just a shot in the dark that you just might be the one I've been waiting for my whole life... 

It's never felt so real, no it's never felt so right...