To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, July 25, 2005
Wedding Bells
This morning, we were priviledged to witness the wedding of some friends of ours from church. It was a small ceremony (there were eleven of us, if you count the Justice of the Peace, and 4 of the other people were children), but it was very nice. We went out and ate far too much sushi. Me thinks I'm not cooking dinner tonight.
There ceremony was, like I said, short and sweet. And surprising. It was at the county annex, officiated by a JP. Therefore, I had some (I'm happy to say "false") preconceptions, the most important one being that God wouldn't be brought up.
We arrived at the annex, and the happy couple signed in. We were led into the court room, and then the JP came in. She introduced herself, and everyone made their introductions. I guess when it was mentioned that we're all part of the same Bible study group, that was her green light to bring the Bible into the ceremony.
It was amazing. That woman could be a preacher if she wanted to be. She read a passage from the Bible (1 Cor. 13... go figure), led the couple in exchanging vows, and led us in a prayer. It was wonderful. I expected a very vanilla ceremony with not a lot of emotion on the part of the JP, but she got into it. She said that she loves being able to perform Christian weddings, and you really could tell.
Now, before any of you start in on the whole "separation of Church and State" argument (please don't- you'll lose), remember that this is Texas. To paraphrase Brad Stine, "People in Texas don't care." It's not about what's PC... it's about what's right. Bringing God into a wedding, and into the marriage, is always right.
There ceremony was, like I said, short and sweet. And surprising. It was at the county annex, officiated by a JP. Therefore, I had some (I'm happy to say "false") preconceptions, the most important one being that God wouldn't be brought up.
We arrived at the annex, and the happy couple signed in. We were led into the court room, and then the JP came in. She introduced herself, and everyone made their introductions. I guess when it was mentioned that we're all part of the same Bible study group, that was her green light to bring the Bible into the ceremony.
It was amazing. That woman could be a preacher if she wanted to be. She read a passage from the Bible (1 Cor. 13... go figure), led the couple in exchanging vows, and led us in a prayer. It was wonderful. I expected a very vanilla ceremony with not a lot of emotion on the part of the JP, but she got into it. She said that she loves being able to perform Christian weddings, and you really could tell.
Now, before any of you start in on the whole "separation of Church and State" argument (please don't- you'll lose), remember that this is Texas. To paraphrase Brad Stine, "People in Texas don't care." It's not about what's PC... it's about what's right. Bringing God into a wedding, and into the marriage, is always right.
