Yesterday…
‘Singing for Health’… remembering November 5th, Guy Fawkes, fireworks, bonfires… singing enthusiastically about fire… Jerry Lee Lewis –
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane
You broke my will but what a thrill
Goodness gracious, great balls of fire
Then Johnny Cash:
Love is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire
…smiling …seeing forty elderly pensioners singing about love as fire, that out-of-control powerful force…
Chatting to friends… sister in a care home… nephew with addiction issues… granddaughter requiring late night lifts, marriage where communication is lacking… wife’s painful surgery… daughter with mental health concerns… In each case the genuine family love isn’t dramatic rock-and-roll-fire love.
…Attending the wedding of Denise and Roy …hearing Paul’s well-known words: ‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged…’
…Reflecting …Denise and Roy have both been married before, both have had their share of life’s problems and difficulties. …Minister-Lou speaking about love being a choice not a feeling… choosing to be patient and kind, choosing through complications.
…Listening to the Mark Twain poem at the wedding:
I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.
But I can promise all my heart’s devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that’s ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.
…Musing on this honest statement of life’s imperfections and complications, …the choice, the promise of love when life isn’t easy or straightforward.
…Praying that Roy, Denise, Minister-Lou, all my friends… will intentionally choose love… knowing Jesus as the source of the love that holds folks together through tough times.
