Love So Powerful

Friday evening, Rev. Chuck Sisneros, of LoveNotes, and I co-officiated Brittany and Martin’s wedding ceremony at the Northeast Chapel in Hurst, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

You can't beat Martin's vivid description of the first time he saw Brittany. They had decided to go to a Sherlock Holmes movie: "As I entered the movie theatre and looked around, up came a stunning woman in a black leather coat, with long hair, large bright eyes, and a huge smile on her face that lit up the room." Sounds like this "Sherlock" found what he was looking for! (#dadjoke)

So, naturally, after the movie was over, he did what any smitten guy would do to show a girl a good time. This is how Brittany describes it: "Afterwards we went to Walmart. Martin needed to buy some sandwich items so he could have lunch ready for work. He now says that he wanted to spend more time with me but he could not think of anywhere else and he really did need sandwich bread."

 

Interestingly, as their relationship progressed, Martin discovered that it was not sandwich bread that was missing. It was something else. Eventually, he says he discovered that it was Brittany. He says that he came to realize, that "She fills the void of everything that was missing..." And so, looking back, Martin says something fascinating, "I... believe this is where my... apathetic life ended, and my happiness began anew."

Why do I say that is fascinating? Because it implies that (unlike with the sandwich bread) before his relationship with Brittany, he didn't feel like anything was missing. It is only upon meeting her, and their relationship progressing, that he made that discovery. Once he did, his whole perspective on life, not just as Brittany's partner, but as an individual, changed.

This is reminiscent of the second creation story in Genesis: "And the Lord God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.'” Now, pay attention to the words; it's not Adam that says this. He's fine, or rather thinks he's fine. However, once she is created, what does Adam say, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." Now, he knows what he had been missing all along; he knows the void, and what or rather who has filled it.

In the Jewish tradition, we bless the bride and groom that they find happiness like that of the first couple. What do we mean, specifically? We pray that the love of the couple be so powerful, that it seem to her, that he is the only man in the world, as Adam was to Eve, and that it seems to him, that she is the only woman in the world, as Eve was to Adam. Brittany says something very similar about why she wants to marry Martin, "I want to get married to Martin because I love him with all my heart and I don’t see myself with anyone else."