A "HOLY UNION" MOMENT

In the essence of sharing this sacred moment in time for me, I have been granted permission by parties involved to share my moment in time with them, with all of you here at The Writer's Café. I have omitted original names to protect the privacy of others but yet to share the moment is a bounty from the experience.



Turning into the driveway the ladies step up to the car and tell us that we can go on through, up to the big house and follow the directions of the attendants to park by the barn. They had been parking people over by the church across the street because of limited parking on the grounds of the Bed and Breakfast Inn. I was so excited to have finally arrived after traveling through the winding beautiful countryside. Everyone that we passed had beautiful smiling faces. We were all so excited and patiently had been waiting for this joyous occasion well over two months. The holy union that was finally taking place, between the pastor and her partner was something we all had just been beaming about, as everyone buzzed around assisting in any way that they could the last week before this wonderful day of sunshine finally arrived.

E. and I had been talking all week about how ironic that on my birthday the law was passed in San Francisco, California for gay marriages to be legal and two days later, the pastor and her partner would be having their ceremony that was already set long before this happy occasion had even been recognized. I didn't realize that the debate was even on the ballot again, because I had been so busy, just like everybody else. We lived in the South anyway, but we were as happy as if the issue was being debated right here. There are a lot of us, that doesn't even think that it should be an issue of debate, because a holy union has nothing to do with the laws of the land except that the civil rights of those involved are being abused and discriminated against, whereby some unions are not. Being able to want to protect those you care about, whether it's through insurance or purchases legally should not depend on a gender match up. Well anyway, we all are going to enjoy this happy occasion today because it is blessed by God through this beautiful weather, a beautiful location, surrounded by wonderful family and friends.

The archway by the lake and a half moon setting of chairs is like a fairy tale. The setting of the special table for the cakes and the huge tent give a clue that there are many more to be expected to arrive shortly. We have arrived in time to be the first seated, and I was wonderfully guided to my seat, so professionally by friends. The professional photographer was all over the place, busy doing his thing. E. stepped over with the rest of the smoking crew in the designated smoking area. The background of the lake made my mind just begin to float on the sweet breezes of the lake. This background of sheer beauty and calmness made everything so elegant. The winding road around the lake coming in gave everything an enchantment feeling and the yellow ribbons on the trees made them appear all dressed up. While everyone was getting seated E., worked her way back over by me. People were getting settled in for the next exciting moments that would change a lot of people's opinions about what a Holy Union could look like.

Our friends had really set the bar for others with a class act! This union was going to be about a truly spiritual, significant moment marked in their journey together into an evolving mystery that only the Creator knew of their true destinies and they were willing to commit to this journey together before God and all her children. God showed up with all of us to bless the day with icing on the cake.

Beginning the ceremony was a beautiful procession song, “The Power of the Moment", by Chris Rice, then there were Words of Welcome and Opening Prayer, then a reading entitled “Significant Hours”, written by Albert Schweitzer, then there was a beautiful song sung by a cherished male friend of the church. The scripture reading was done from Colossians 3 versus 12- 17. The pastoral address delivered by their two female friends was spellbinding as poetry. When the declaration of intent was spoken, everyone was at attention as if taking notes. Then the community affirmed that we were in this together as a family. The couple was in a state of heavenly bliss, as they spoke their poetic hearts to one another with the fresh backdrop of the most beautiful and natural chorus performed by God's creation, the birds of various sounds sung in harmony as if they were summoned to arrive right at this moment in time. There could not have been a more perfect evening without a flaw I had ever witnessed. It was as if God had prepared it Herself. Then the brides were turning towards one another for a breathtaking moment that we all had been waiting for, to exchange their vows. We then witnessed the significance of the rings being exchanged as explained by their pastoral friends from their mother Church, two wonderful ladies! They began explaining the symbols of the rings to expand into an even larger circle of family as they continue to grow together on this never ending journey, mentioning that we all would grow with them in this binding circle of commitment.

The brides then moved over to another altar that contained three glass containers, whereby they chose to do a symbol of unity. Each one picking up a vase, in one vase there was blue sand and in the other there was yellow sand, they began to combine the two colors together into the middle container. They were demonstrating that by unifying together these two colors they created a new color green, a color that could not exist without equal parts of yellow and blue. Neither primary color relinquished it's realness but each retained its original splendor because of no chemical reaction-no exchanging of particles-just a mixing, a blending-two things of beauty coming together to yield a new and different display.

We all received a personal letter at our arrival that explained a few of the threads that created the tapestry of their life together. The unity symbol was one of them. They also shared in this letter what “Living in the Moment”, meant to them and that this was the theme for their day! I would like to quote from their letter their thoughts about this theme, because it will remain a part of me and my shared moment with them for ever:
“When you live in the moment, everything is fresh and new all of the time. When you live in the moment, life becomes a fragile chain of random thoughts and happenings that are held together by precious memories of single moments in time. Peaceful pandemonium, held together by love.”
A female friend stepped up to the microphone to sing out the smiling brides as they made way towards the tent for all the hugs and kisses and pictures of this joyous occasion.

This was a shared moment, I will cherish forever. I know in my heart of hearts that the Sacred Feminine love of God was smiling among us all as She looked upon her garden of flowers in full bloom embellishing all their beautiful hues of diversity, representing young and seasoned, diverse of gender and sexual orientation as well as cultural diversity. Sitting under the big tent enjoying the floral fragrance off the breezes, I was approached by a dear spiritual brother that whispered to me if I would do the honor of asking the blessing before we broke bread together on this special occasion. This was another confirmation from the Mother Goddess of us all because little did this servant know of my story, that in my growing up I was always within myself complaining to God that where there was a gathering of men and women no one would ask a woman to bless the gathering, well, on this special day, the Sacred Feminine of God let me know she was smiling down on all of us. I graciously accepted the invitation with a smile and gazed upward. After the meal I looked around at all the beautiful smiling faces and once again I could feel my spirit stirring and I requested to speak to the gathering for a sharing of a short story with the brides.

I shared an experience I had about 10 or 12 years earlier, whereby I had a spiritual calling to have a one human family gathering. I was told in my spirit to just put out the call and they would come. I trusted that and proceeded with my part, not knowing what to expect but trusting that I was doing my part. I created an altar that represented various ancestors around the world and offered up prayers. I asked everyone to bring something that represented their ancestors and place it on the altar for a building of bridges from the spirit world into the physical world. People began responding and came in “standing room only” numbers! It was one of the happiest times of my life simply because they showed up. I was in a corner crying when a man of African descent approached me to see if I was okay. I told him it was tears of joy, because I didn't expect such a unified response. He reminded me that when our hearts have the right intent and motivation to be receptors we attract to us those that reflect what we send out. This was simply a display of the love I was sending out returned to me by those that showed up. This was why I shared this story with my friends because their love for one another and others is authentic, which in return has brought back to them, many fold in the faces of those that surround them. One of the prettiest smiling faces, there was the smile on the face of the Pastor's mother. The joy she must have felt at this gathering surely made her proud of her daughter and partner to witness their commitment to God and their calling to such a degree as to share this moment with her and their family could make her heart sing praises of peace

In our leaving the grounds E. and I agreed that this would be a moment that we shared together in a sacred setting whereby would be embedded in our soul memories forever. Passing in front of the lake on our way out I looked up and could just feel our Sacred Mother smiling down on all the love shared on these sacred grounds at the Holy Union!.