#1420, Tuesday, May 5: Sermon on Saturday

Post 1420, Day 125 of 2015
- 1,586 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Today I wrote (or, more properly, finished the draft of) my first-ever sermon.

It will be delivered Saturday, when my dear friends Jeanne and Gary Shaw renew their vows near Jeanne's studio in Croton Point Park.

I think they asked me out of a belief that I would inject their (our) kind of wacky humor into what they want to see as a big party.

I failed. Not that I don't find humor in the situation (I smile every time I think of them, and our times together are always full of laughter), it's just that when I think of their marriage/couple-ship/partnership/family, while I don't see any solemnity (that would be wrong), I do see so much that is remarkable. These are two people who have succeeded in creating a family, maintaining their commitments to each other, being beacons of love, taking their role as stewards of the environment to levels unprecedented among my friends and acquaintances.

And they do it all with great good humor. They don't need me to make their renewal of vows a standup routine.

I just want to kick off the party part, and that is how my 'sermon' ends.

Here's that sermon:

I’m going to start with an answer: It’s all about love. I will give you a minute to remember whatever question you had in mind. Thank you. No matter what question came to you, including why this crazy old bag of wind is speaking now, the answer is, “It’s all about love.”

Sometimes, when you remember that it’s all about love, love becomes a vessel. It holds your life, and everyone and everything you perceive in it, and there is a unity in that. That is worth celebrating, and being thankful for, today, and every day.

The love that Gary and Jeanne have shared for decades has created a family that now has four generations, and has enriched the lives of everyone they’ve met, and, by extension, everyone who knows anyone they’ve met, so that’s a lot of people who’ve benefited from the love of two people, acting in unity.

When that happens, something new is set off: Commitment.

Gary and Jeanne have been and are committed to each other; they are committed to the belief that we are the stewards of the environment, and the shepherds of the newer generations; they are committed to their family, and their friends; they are committed to beauty in its many forms, to the art that reflects that beauty; and, to complete the cycle, to living life with love and commitment.

That is the endless, timeless loop: Love and commitment begetting more love, more commitment…

And that is the question I answered first off: Why are we here today? It’s all about love, and today we’re here to celebrate being included in the Gary and Jeanne loop. We’ve come here to celebrate their love and commitment to each other. We’ve come here to recollect and renew what Gary and Jeanne have not forgotten, and what they have ensured will be renewed endlessly: Their sacred promise to love and honor each other, as we love and honor them.

Right now, I’d like everybody to join hands. I want this assembly to connect and be a symbol of the unity of love that we’re celebrating here, as Gary and Jeanne renew their vows, their promise to each other.

Thank you.

Now, not because I’m a minister in the Universal Life Church, or a long-time friend, but as someone who derives authority from the love I have for you both, I now ask you, Gary and Jeanne, to join hands and speaking with one voice, to repeat after me:

Dearest, in all my time, with all my heart, I vow to love you with nothing held back, as my mate and comrade, as friend and lover, as my partner in life.

Kiss each other to seal the vow.

Now, kiss me. I love you both, and celebrate you, as all here today, and all who couldn’t be here except in spirit, celebrate the joy you have in each other, the joy of life, and what it means to us to have the two of you in our lives.

I tried to strike a balance - hopefully, I wasn't too heavy or too glib, too deep or too sentimental.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   205.4 lbs

Previous Weight (5/4):            204.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

I didn't expect this gain, but maybe I should have. A lot of snacking yesterday.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Snack

Grilled cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 Sesame sprouted grain bread.

Dinner
Pepperoni, cheese and a salad of mixed baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cabbage and balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack

Pepperoni and grilled cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 Sesame sprouted grain bread.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 88+ oz.

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