Three of Four

Of the last four weddings I have attended, three of them were officiated by me.  The latest was just yesterday, at a beautiful small church in rural southeastern MN, just the couple and their parents (and Pamela).  It was a beautiful space - with a wood stove right in the middle of the room, and oil lamps and candelabras providing the light along with the setting sun.  It was a crisp fall day, with a pure blue sky.

The couple (who are keeping this under their hats for now, so will remain unnamed) trusted me to write the ceremony and provide some vows, which they loved.

As I reflect, I'm so grateful to Paul and Melissa Olson, who asked me 4 years ago to get ordained and perform their ceremony - it was in a field near New Ulm, another beautiful rural setting...   I remember being out to dinner with them, when they were about to ask a sensitive question...  I was SURE they wanted me in their ceremony (though knowing how any brothers Paul had, I figured I would be far back in the line).  When they asked if I would perform the ceremony, I said YES without a second thought.  It just seemed right.  Geek that I am, I read the ceremony off of my white Amazon Kindle.

My talent lay dormant for 4 years, but then my friends Gregg and Rachel had me do their wedding late summer in a planetarium in Philadelphia.  This one had a lot of Jewish tradition in it, which was fun to learn about, and I had to wrangle a good dozen speakers...  AND we did the glass breaking...  it was wonderful.

And now to have done one more in just a few months...  now it's strange, but I'm thinking "yes, this is a thing I do now" - I'm just expecting someone else to ask.

I feel I'm actually pretty good at this - I love to write (as you know), and I am not shy in front of a crowd...  and I also like to create a service that is very personal to the couple - I would never want to be one of those priests who just read the same service over and over...  Not that I'll have that risk - it's not everyone who wants an agnostic geek to perform their wedding.  I'm just happy that there are 3 couples (so far) who DID.

And I'm pretty sure I would have done a great job on the 4th wedding, if only Erik had asked.  But as consolation, I did get to stand on that stage as one of his "best guys", so it was worth it.

The other fun thing to consider:  My kids are growing up knowing that a person can pretty much do anything:  Write music?  Climb mountains?  Help doctors?  Marry people?  Sure, I can do that.  And so can they, someday.