Wedding Ceremonies

It's been a decade since I attended wedding ceremonies! Oh wow! Finally! Finally! I am attending the wedding ceremony of my coursemate! It's a joyous occasion indeed! 

While love is something intangible, its impact and effect cannot be missed. 

I think it is scary to marry someone you've only met for a few months/years and decide to love him for the next thirty or forty or even fifty years! Why?! We live with our parents and siblings for twenty or thirty years, and sometimes, we wonder if we even love them because of our blood relations, or because we want to. And not to mention the potential loss. The more we invest, the more we will miss it when we lose it. 

So, why would people want to get married? People at different stages of life, offer a variety of responses. 

A widower explains, "People marry because there is a physical attraction. And you can't deny it. You will know it. It's in your bones. To me, love is going to the hospital every day to visit your wife when she's sick, and never missing a single day, rain or shine. It also means flying all the way back for her when she really needs you by her side."

The sceptic in me, wonders if this is even remotely possible, for such a scenario to happen in my life. 

A widow just has this to say, "It is something that you will need in your life, no matter which stage you are. My husband died 10 years ago. Until today, I still miss him. It's hard to describe to you. Let's just say, I miss his love."

This seems promising. 

A couple in their forties ventures, "We all need our own partners. We don't want to end up being lonely."

I think it is just not right to marry to avoid a fear of being lonely. Every act of ours should be born out of love and an attractive or pull factor, not a fear or a repulsive / push factor. The chances of a successful relationship or marriage will be higher in the former compared to the latter. Wouldn't you think so?

Perhaps, sensing my thoughts and discomfort, a more optimistic lady in her thirties reassures me, "Jean, Jean, marriage is the best thing that can happen in your life! It's not bleak or the end of the world. Despite all initial apprehensions, it is really comforting to have somebody whom you can fully trust and open up your whole world to!"

Oh well, being the ever naïve and optimistic me,  I will cling onto my hopes of faith and belief in the power of love. 

As the marriage ceremony proceeds, the pastor offers his own personal tips of maintaining a successful marriage: 

• Be alert and observant at all times.
• Marriage brings out the best in each other .
• Give lots and lots of forgiveness.
• Give your time, lots of gifts, affirmation, touch ...
• Don't keep score. Love is an action .
• Rejoice and grow in your marriage .
• Love never fails. Love comes from God . 
• Live in love and live in God.
• Guard yourself in the spirit and do not break faith.

As I fly halfway across the world, crossing earlier time zones and into the breaking dawn, I can't help but feel in my veins and bones that I am going to embark on a new journey in my life. I will need to follow this advice very, very soon! 

Jean! Ganbarinasai! Anata wa dekiru! zettai akiramenai ne! 

Bonne chance!