Save The Date!

 We talk about weddings in class; after all, Jesus' frst miracle was at a wedding! There are many decisions that have to be made before the big day. I think the first big decision is always the day. The following entry, from 10-11-06, looks at how that is handled.

I'm not much for staying out in front of social trends but I have noticed a shift in the cultural winds. Twice in the past week, my mailbox contained the latest salvo in the wedding arms race: the Save The Date magnet! These metallic announcements informed me of the dates of two upcoming nuptials; Joanna and Allan, and Emily and Josh. I know both of the bride-elects. What tremendous young ladies! Emily and Joanna were Bible students of mine in both middle and high school at Westbury Christian. Both were cheerleaders and participated in other school extracurriculars. I worked with both of their mothers at WCS. Joanna served as one of my basketball managers one season. The date, December 23, will prevent me from being able to attend her joyous event. Not only will I be present at Emily's wedding in November, I will be the officiating minister. The magnets were quite different from each other. Joanna's is smaller, heavier, with a color outdoor snapshot of the couple, topped off by a bow. Emily's is almost double the size with a black-and-white informal portrait with her fiancee. Both magnets will have a home in my classroom, at least for the next two months. I have a feeling they will have company soon on the Desk Of Fame. Google Save The Date magnets and you will find multiple pages of websites. Love is big business!

Wouldn't life be great if we could arrange dates for everything significant in our lives and stick them on the refrigerator? The sobering news story of the day out of New York City was that of the small plane crashing into a Manhattan apartment building. The shocking slant to the story was the deceased pilot's identity, New York Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle. In an ironic twist of fate, if the Yankees had defeated the Detroit Tigers last week in the first round of the baseball playoffs, Lidle would have been preparing to play ball this afternoon instead of taking off in poor weather for a training flight around the Big Apple. There will be no more dates saved for Cory Lidle or his flight instructor, who also perished on this, the eleventh day of October. In the book of James, we find this sobering admonition:

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14

We can save the date but we can never be assured it will come. We should live as if the date we are saving is today. With that outlook, we can always abide by the warning of Jesus to his disciples: You must be ready. What we really need is a Save The Date magnet for the greatest celebration of all, the return of the Savior of mankind. There is no need to RSVP for that gathering. We will have no choice concerning our presence that day but we can decide to be prepared. Jesus worked the concept of weddings into several parables. Those who were ready for the wedding were rewarded while the unprepared were punished. The invitation has been delivered. The acceptance is in our hands. I'll have my suit ready for Emily's wedding. I need to have my life in order for the Lord's big day. Both are on the calendar. I just don't know which will come first!

Applicable quote of the day:
"All weddings are similar but every marriage is different."
John Berger

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com