hold onto your hats…and bouquets… and programs… and that three-year old, where’d he go?

My friends’ wedding was a complete success. It was darn close to being a total disaster. It was an outdoor wedding, and it was probably 103 degrees when we all got to the church in wool and polyester and pantyhose and flowers and hairspray and jackets and pants and all. So we were set for a sweat fest.

Then the ceremony was about to begin, and I looked in the sky: dark, dark clouds. I was so nervous that we were going to get poured on. We started the ceremony, and then the wind hit. You know that crazy wind right before a huge storm? Blowing us around like you wouldn’t believe. But everyone in the ceremony was an actor, and you know how we are: “The Show Must Go On.” And we got a little louder (some a LOT louder) and we got a little bigger, and kept a sense of humor through the whole thing. Every once in a while a drop would fall… but we beat nature.

It never rained on us.

And it was the most engaging wedding you’ve ever seen. Such tension, such drama. It’s like in Poltergeist when the dad’s trying to get out the keys to let the family in the car before the undead gets him… we just wanted to hear “Kiss the Bride” before the crash of thunder and lightning. Every added song, every reading was another layer of suspense. Will the sister singing on the karaoke machine get electrocuted at the climax of the song from a sudden downpour? Will the veil get blown off the bride’s head before the groom lifts it to kiss her? Will all the flowers blow away? Will the children start crying? Will we still be able to hear the ceremony? And most of all… What happens if it rains?

Relationships are full of drama and comedy. Theatre is full of drama and comedy. The ceremony between two members of our theatre world should be just as exciting, fulfilling, and ultimately– entertaining. Let God join the two of you together with a mixing of his most powerful elements. Let the world see you start together with all of your friends and family determined (as Viola is to find Sebastian after the storm in Twelfth Night) to start your lives off right. Let us cry for you because it finally happened. Let us cry for you because we are proud of you, happy for you, and relieved that everything went well. Let us cry for you at the mere spectacle of it all.

Love is messy. It is fast, unpredictable, and surprising. Love makes you dizzy. Sometimes you have a bit of cleaning up to do when love sets you down for a second. Love makes your friends get caught up in it and want to be a part of your love so bad they don’t care the consequences. Let ’em take a branch to the eye for love.

Don’t ever let your storm die down. Always keep it exciting and amazing and electrified. And when you hit that calm of the eye of the storm, appreciate it for what it is– down time before the next whirlwind… time to buy more survival equipment, time to check on the chicken coop.
Don’t shake your fist at the storm, but thank it for the way it will keep your life always interesting, and never, ever dull.

To Weldon and Martinique Happiness and Passion Forever I Love You