How
can I, within a few words, try to capture this memory of a special day? Yet
there is one picture, the last for me of that wonderful occasion, demanding to
be shared.
What
a joy to be at the service, arriving to see a church decorated with flowers,
packed with friendly faces, and of course special outfits, feeling so welcomed
until, the last vows uttered, the photos and the feasting, the moving, loving
speeches for such a special couple. I was ready to accept when a friend offered
to take me home, knowing the disco and dancing for the evening guests might not
be for me.
It
had been a day of glorious, unclouded sunshine, despite weather forecasts, but
we stepped out of the crowded hotel to feel a fresh breeze springing up while
in the distance towards the sea was an unforgettable sight.
A
bevy of beauty would be too poor a description of the gathering of the
beautiful bridesmaids, called by the photographer for a special memory, for a
mischievous breeze was tossing their flimsy garments around them as if they
might be taking flight. We read of a charm of goldfinches, but these were a
charm indeed, even perhaps an ecstasy of bridesmaids.
How
might a poet describe it should his eyes be opened to see a gathering of angels
dancing and delighting in the presence of
the Bridegroom at the marriage feast of the Lamb? Somehow I felt God was
reminding me of his joy in this special couple who with single mindedness had
waited to consummate the love that had been kindled in their hearts so long ago
because such love and such union points us all forward to the love of His Son
for his Bride, the Church.
And
so I share this picture of, may I say an exultation of bridesmaids – a charm
greater than of any birds, who had been willing to dedicate their own beautiful
gifts to add to the adoration of the beauty and yes, lovability of our radiant
Bride?
