Quick Takes For The Week

OS is up to his keister in work, so it may be a few days before he gets to gather any thoughts.

Last Friday through today have been eventful, and uplifting, both in the 'big picture' and the 'little picture' of life in OS's house.

So, quickly: OS notes that the Almighty often affords us glimpses of the contrast between His ways and the ways of the evil one. The royal wedding, a thing of dignity and beauty, contrasted with the mass murderer hiding behind women and children in his blast-proof compound (undoubtedly living under the protection of the Pakis). Which approach to life and culture offers hope, which offers despair?

OS was able to check an item off his personal 'bucket list'. He attended the Tom Jones concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Jones is seventy, still in wonderful health and voice. OS attended to be entertained, and came away inspired and deeply moved. He's still mulling over the evening, will have more to say as the words organize themselves. In the meantime, for those readers in Europe and the UK, his upcoming schedule is here. If you can, attend. You'll thank OS later.

OS rejoices always at the defeat of evil, at the administration of justice, and the demise of those who prey upon the innocent. It occurs to him that this weekend may be remembered as the first adult decision made by Barack Obama, in a life dedicated to avoidance of such necessities. All credit to all those who, over the past decade, made the moment of bullet insertion above Bin Laden's left eye possible. Obama's second adult act should be to invite President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, and the commandants of Club Gitmo to the White House for a public acknowledgment of the wisdom of their approach in pursuit of the monster. Time will tell if the effect of the first adult moment will wear off too soon.

Back to work. Take care, say your prayers, and give thanks to the Almighty for the US Navy.

The Wedding Sermon That Deserves To Be Repeated At Weddings For Years To Come

Cranmer shares the address in its entirety.

(Cranmer, bless him, once again leads the way in tying the sacred and secular together, and helping it all make sense.)

Friday, April 29, 2011
Royal Wedding: the Address of the Bishop of London

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."

So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day this is. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many people are fearful for the future of today’s world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each other.

The spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. People can dream of such a thing but that hope should not be fulfilled without a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely the power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform so long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

"Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,
Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon."

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive. We need mutual forgiveness in order to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads on to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can receive and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today will do everything in their power to support and uphold you in your new life. I pray that God will bless you in the way of life you have chosen. That way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage. In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer.
We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayers And Good Wishes To The Royal Couple

Billions of words and images have spilled upon us about The Wedding, and this is not a bad thing. We live in a world where horrific images and words of pure evil now inundate us daily. It is time to hear some old, but perhaps unfamiliar words, as we will tomorrow morning. This from Paul's letter to the Romans, which will be read aloud at the wedding:

I APPEAL to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 12: 1-2, 9-18 

Is there any living soul of any goodwill at all who could disgree with these thoughts? And yet, OS fears many will sneer, others denounce, and many more ignore these simple words. What if, instead, we heeded them and followed them in our lives, our businesses, our institutions, our marriages?

OS feels sure his few words will never reach the eyes of William and Catherine, but for the record, he wishes to say a few anyway. Everyone else has, might as well join in.

Dear young people, so in love, with such bright days ahead:

OS remembers another Royal Wedding, and watched with delight and joy as William's father married William's mother. The phrase 'storybook wedding' echoed again and again and again. Everything looked so perfectly wonderful, and the unravelling of the fairy tale is one of the modern tragedies of our time. OS cannot imagine the pain you, William, must have endured throughout, especially to lose your mother so horribly and publicly. To lose a mother is hard enough on a lad, much less to have to endure the public glare as you grieved and moved on.

You begin your marriage, inevitably, under the shadow of that debacle, the inexplicable failure of both your parents to embrace the simple verities and charity required to build and sustain any marriage. But, let this grizzled Old Southerner, with children your age (and a failed marriage to boot) in his life, remind you of One Simple Truth: Those were their failures, not yours. You are not obligated to repeat any of them, at any time. God's grace changes everything, if we but call upon it.

Hold fast to Christ (knowing that He holds you in his hand already), and hold fast one to the other. Seek one another's greatest good. Begin each day by telling your spouse just how wonderful he/she is, and that you are the most blessed man/woman on the planet to wake up next to him/her. Actively work to make each day a happy memory by day's end, and watch the happy memories pile up and strengthen your marriage. Go to bed, with 'I love you' on your lips as you drop off to sleep. Get up in the morning and do it again, and again. Time flies, so make each day count.

You don't need that many friends, but you need a few good ones, who know you as William and Kate, not as royalty. Choose wisely, and don't hesitate to insist that your friends be discreet. The biographers and publishers can have their day in the year 2111 or so. Until then...indiscreet friends aren't friends.

You have a huge task ahead of you, as you will one take the throne of a great nation that has suffered terrible losses in both war and peace. It falls to you to lead the rebuilding. As the love between you grows and deepens, your marriage itself will play a huge role in that work.

The printed program, with its selections of music and readings, is a great ray of hope for all of us. You have avoided the temptation to bow your marriage in the direction of the popular culture, and for this you will be criticized bitterly. Let your detractors whine themselves to death, and never apologize for being right.

God bless you, young people. You have my prayers always.

OS

Cranmer has posted the text of the full service, with all music selections, here.

The PDF of the official program can be downloaded here.