Somewhere in the Middle

A day of joy

So... "Did you see the wedding?" That seems to be the question of the day! We definitely watched. C even watched it with me & was able to share some information he learned about Kate's family coat of arms. The British community had a little fete for those who wanted to watch the wedding but we chose to watch it at home through the Royal Channel online. How awesome is that! Watching it all online. The internet is amazing.

I'lll admit I love weddings. Who doesn't? It's so beautiful to watch two people truly in love come together as one with their friends & family to share in their happiness. And the wedding dress, flowers, cake and the other details are so fun to see. Love it all.

Thirty years ago, I was vacationing at my grandparent's house in NYC and I remember waking up super early to watch Princess Diana's wedding. I'm very happy I didn't have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for this royal wedding.

Kate looked so elegant in her wedding dress. I love how she remained very loyal to her country when it came to chosing a designer and the materials & techniques used to create her dress. Everything from the handmade lace appliqué to her veil and shoes is steeped with traditon.

There were three things that I loved about this wedding...

As Kate left the hotel with her father you could see by the way she was waving at the crowds how happy she was... it wasn't the a beauty pageant type of wave no, no, no it was the kind of wave that said, "I'm getting married today!!"

I also loved watching Kate & William exchange several sweet glances & smiles. So endearing.

And lastly, the sermon. Did you listen to the sermon? I mean really listen to it? It was absolutely beautiful. The entire ceremony was bursting with blessings for their marriage, the birth of their children, and their future. The Bishop of London's sermon was so inspiring. I absolutely loved it every word and because I loved it so much I wanted to include it in my post.

I especially love the way it begins...

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

What powerful words.

Listening to this statement I couldn't help but think of C and what I hope for him & his future.

Sermon :: Dr Richard Chartres KCVO, 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 it is today. 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 are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our 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 the 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.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A 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. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary 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 a 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 as 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, 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 to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise 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 our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that 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.

 

Magritte's Olympia Stolen

It was just a few weeks ago my friends & I visited Magritte's museum and admired his artwork. "Olympia" is a painting of Magritte's wife & it's the first art piece you see when you walk into the house. The painting is absolutely beautiful and reflects his loving relationship with his wife. It's such a shame that's it's now gone. I'm just so thankful my friends & I were able to see this piece in person before it disappered and that no one was hurt during the robbery yesterday.

Here's a copy of the article from the Flandersnew.be

"The museum in the Esseghemstraat, one of two Magritte museums in Brussels (photo), is housed in the former house of the Belgian artist, which was turned into a museum after his death. It can only be visited by appointment. Two men called at the door around 10 this morning. When the door was opened, one of them threatened the five people inside with a gun. The five, staff members and two visitors, had to sit on their knees while an accomplice took the painting "Olympia", one of three paintings in the museums. They escaped by car. Only then did the alarm sound. The thieves are still on the run. "Olympia" is a 1948 painting by Magritte and represents a nude woman leaning back with a shell on her stomach. According to the police, it has a value of 750,000 euros."

Those last few seconds

When I fly I always feel so secure. I rarely ever think about the large bodies of water the plane is flying over or how I'm flying thousands of feet in the air and I definitely don't think about the possibility of the plane crashing. No, I'm the girl who sleeps through the take off and landing and misses meals because I'm asleep. I've even been known to sleep through entire flights. My Mom envies me to no end for this ability. She is deathly afraid of flying and every flight she takes is "horrible". The stories she tells me about her flights are just crazy. Is it really possible that every flight is horrible? I can't tell you how many strangers she has grabbed hugged on her flights because she was terrified something was going to happen.

Most of the time flying IS safe but when something does happen it's a reality check for me that sometimes things can go wrong. Like they did on the recent Air France flight from Brazil to Paris. I've been following the story for a few days praying & hoping that officials would find survivors. But this morning my heart sank when I read officials reported to families that there was no hope of finding survivors. No hope. Can you imagine.

As I think about the people abroad that flight I wonder what went through their minds in those last few minutes or perhaps seconds. I can't even imagine the hysteria abroad that flight or the desperation passengers must feel before a plane goes down. There is some speculation that if the plane lost control and started spiraling down into a storm cell, the plane would begin disintegrating, the engines and wings would start coming off, the cabin would begin falling apart. My god, if this is what really happened I would hope that this last memory be erased from their minds so they may be at peace.

My sympathies go out to all the families & friends mourning their loved ones.

Why I believe...

One of my friends sent me a link to this episode of StoryCorps and wrote,

"Love is all there is, in the final analysis, and along the way too"

This story is a perfect example why I'm an organ donor and believe it's so important. Donating your organs is one of the most selfless things a person can do.

Listen for yourself. And if you're not an organ donor perhaps this story will make you reconsider. 

P.S. Grab a few tissues before you listen.

A Celebration of Optimism

In just 10 minutes, I will begin to watch CNN's live coverage of the events surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Wow. I get sentimental just thinking about it. I'm so excited about what this change will mean for the United States.

My friends R & Fern received tickets to the inauguration a few weeks ago. I'm so jealous. Most of the people I know who live in the Northern VA/Baltimore area are planning to stay as far away from DC as possible. But you know what... despite the millions of people that will be in DC today I still wish I could be there to experience this monumental day in history.

Let's hear it for CHANGE!!

What a great way to wake up this morning and see this...

338 Electoral Votes!! Totally awesome!!

One more quick update

Ok, I'm going to sleep but just before I do I wanted to get one more Electoral update. Go Obama!

Update on Elections

I just can't seem to tear myself away and go to bed. Here are the current results.

Election 2008

It's almost 2am and the first two states, Vermont & Kentucky, have called in their results... 8 Electoral votes for McCain and 3 Electoral votes for Obama. The results for 7  more states are still being analyzed. For me, it's exciting, stressful, and amazing all at the same time. Oh, how I wish I could be in the US for this event and feel the energy of people voting & letting their voices be heard.

It's frustrating though not being able to watch the News updates. Instead I called Nino for an update. He told me at 6am when he went to vote the line was 2 blocks long but that people didn't seem to care and this is NYC where everyone is in a rush. lol! He said the overall feeling is that people want their voices heard. Nino also mentioned that the amount of young people voting was phenomenal. So cool! I pray that I'm in for a good surprise when I wake up tomorrow and find out who won the elections.