From the Pastor - June 2018

“For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.”¹

Fifty years ago, my parents made these vows to one another at the United Methodist Church in Saybrook, Illinois (just two weeks after the union of the Methodists and Evangelical United Brethren that formed our current denomination). 

Over the decades, Cliff and Sally have been through it all: better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health.  They have experienced both stress and support from extended family members.  They have earned, spent, borrowed, inherited, and given large amounts of money.  As the parents of three children, they established a safe home and provided the security of love.  They attended countless little league games, gym meets, dance recitals, band and choral concerts, courts of honor, and graduations.  While being proud parents, they have also worried about the wellbeing of their children.  And they have had their own health challenges.

They have found a purpose in life through service in the church.  For as long as I can remember, my dad has directed the handbell choir at church.  Since retiring, my mom has organized the funeral dinners and monthly luncheons for seniors. 

One of the strengths of their marriage is how they support one another.  For example, Sally plays in Cliff’s handbell choir, and Cliff is the chief dishwasher when Sally cooks at church. 

After all these years, they know how to give each other space and when to draw near.  That doesn’t mean they don’t annoy or snap at one another.  Recently, they discussed needing to accept one another’s stubbornness and short-temperedness as part of the give-and-take of their marriage. 

St. Paul puts it this way: “Love is patient…it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”²  As an insider-observer, I think the secret to their marriage is an unflagging commitment to each other with heavy doses of humility, forgiveness, and loving acceptance.

In the middle of June, my extended family will spend a week at a resort near Glacier National Park in Montana to celebrate my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.  It’s a big deal.  These days, fewer couples reach a milestone like that. 

To me, couples like my parents who manage to stay together in relative happiness for many years are proof that there is a God.  How else can two people endure the ups and downs of life unless a benevolent supernatural being is helping them? 

Thanks be to God!

 
Yours in Christ,
 ~Brian
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¹ The Book of Worship for Church and Home,  (Nashville, TN: Methodist Publishing House, 1965), 29-30.

² 1 Corinthians 13:4a, 7, NRSV.