The Wedding

…but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
 
I love weddings!  I love everything about them, the clothes, the excitement, the food and laughter, but mostly I enjoy the happiness that surrounds the entire event.  Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of a co-worker.  She looked so beautiful and so radiantly happy…actually, joyful is a
better word.  Happiness is an emotion but true joy comes only from being completely in the will of God. It was abundantly clear that Kelly and Ben were exactly where God had intended them to be!
 
I think the thing I love best about weddings is the way it sets Paul’s words to the Corinthians in motion.  As the wedding began, I found myself searching the faces of the people gathered there to celebrate. I’d never done that before and my eye immediately caught the little faces of the third graders who had come to see their lovely teacher get married.  I was tickled by the loving glances and giggles and tiny happy tears, and the smiles…dozens and dozens of them.  In a world that can get so segmented and divided over “issues” of the day, it was absolutely delightful to be a part of a big group of folks completely united and genuinely happy about one thing…two people and the love they share!  Love is the greatest!
 
Now, I may joke around about not defrosting the freezer because I’m too busy contemplating how to achieve world peace, but the reality is, world peace, love and harmony are probably not going to blanket us like the snow from a January blizzard.  Before you feel sad and deflated though, remember the great thing is that if we are aware that God’s love can accomplish anything…in fact ALL things that’s the most peaceful though ever!  Stop for a minute and imagine what life would be like if for one day,
heck even one hour, we looked at all the people in our path with the same kind of genuine love that plastered the faces of all those folks at Saturday’s
wedding!  Not possible some would say; well you might be right about that if you are looking through human eyes.  We are called to look at others, especially the difficult others in our life, through God’s eyes. See, God’s eyes have a different lens; a lens of love.  He sees us with an even greater happiness, joy, respect and delight than I saw on the faces of those at the wedding.  He sees us with love because He made us…perfectly, in His image and He asks us to look at the others He created through His eyes!  That’s a pretty tough thing…but not quite so tough if we remember that the “greatest of these is love” and through that great gift we can accomplish things we didn’t think were possible.  I think the first step to peace, is love.
 
A seed to plant:  Pick a person to look at today.  Each time you see them, ask God to help you look at them through His eyes, focusing on the beauty and wonder He threaded through them as He brought them into being. 
Tomorrow pick two people and the ultimate goal will be to see everyone through His eyes and soon you may look as giddy and delighted as someone watching a wedding.

Blessings on your day!