For me, the theme of my sister’s wedding this week was journeys. They are not 21-year olds, fresh-faced and wide-eyed. At this stage in life things have happened to them and it hasn’t always been straightforward. While things may not be straightforward in the future either, the wedding day symbolises a moment of stillness, a hinge, because from now on they’ll be facing it together…a little older and wiser.
It seems to me that few people haven’t suffered. In my previous career I was privy to such secrets and burdens. People put a brave face on things. We can easily slip into making moralistic assumptions about what motivates people but I wonder if the chief motivation for most people is the search for relief. In that vein ordinary moments can glisten. The mundane activities of daily living, doing the washing up, making a cup of tea are filled with value. They are suffused with peace and come to represent green pastures. The first round of chemo is finished, the legal action is resolved, this time the baby was born alive. It goes on. I wonder if that’s how ancient Japenese tea ceremonies started and grew to have significance. A celebration of time, community and peace. After all, surely even the act of owning a teapot is a statement of faith in the continuation of peace and stability.
Quite a serious blog post today but it’s not everyday your little sister gets married. So, for Rosie and Sam, and for many others at their wedding, I wish you may throw your hearts far into the starry sky, then, hand-in-hand, run and catch them.
