The author Arthur C. Brooks gave seven words for true happiness in life: “Use things, love people, and worship God.”
Those who follow this advice surround themselves with friends and family who rejoice with them and together enjoy true love. For the love we share with each other is the sweetest of all. It’s this type of love—love of others—that was made to last forever.
In time, when we love others, we realize where our love comes from and we begin to look heavenward. We realize that all love comes from God, the creator of life, the Father of Lights, the Lord of Love and Truth. When we put Him first, we gain even more love, and grow brighter and brighter until we stand before Him one day, with those people we love, and who love us. And we will dance and sing, like we do in our hearts when we see those we love.
In that spirit, I share three sweet truths about wedding rings:
First is the symbol of the ring. Like all good symbols, there are many layers to this.
RINGS: The ring is a way to tie ourselves to each other. It shows our commitment to each other and to God. And it is a symbol of eternity—reminding us that if we obey God and keep His covenants, we will be together forever. Because of the promises we make in the temple, we can follow our Heavenly Parents in their eternal round, into the eternities.
The circle is also the symbol of Heaven. Like how the heavens circle around us on this earth, the ring circles around our hearts and hands to bind spouses to each other, their children, and to God. When we keep our rings on—and wear them openly, and let them remind us to talk of our spouses with honor, reverence, and love—they also bind us to God. We should honor our spouses, for they have bound themselves to us, and as we speak of them, we are speaking of ourselves. And in doing so, we follow the pattern of matrimony established by God for Adam and Eve—our first earthly parents—in the Garden of Eden.
That brings us to sweet truth number two.
2. TREES: Just like that image of God marrying Adam and Eve in God’s garden, getting married is like two trees being transplanted into a garden next to each other—to help and strengthen each other.
The trees’ roots intertwine, their branches kiss, and their trunks reinforce each other. Individuals but one. A beautiful paradox. A harmony. A marriage.
We start this when we are married.
Our roots are our ancestors (seen and unseen), who are watching over us, rejoicing with us, loving us.
Our branches are where we will have fruit. Our branches kiss and magically we have the flowers of children, and the angels born and to be born will come and minister to our love like birds nesting in our leaves.
Our trunks remain our independent identity—so we can be true to ourselves, two, but one, joined by our roots and branches.
See, just like with Adam and Eve, when we are married, we are placed next to each other, in a Garden of Love. Individual but one. Unique but united.
This arrangement can bless us for the decades that will come. And trust me, they will pass quickly.
In that time, if you don’t let anything get between those trunks, between each of you, and let your love strengthen your roots as they intertwine, your leaves as they kiss, and your trunks grow and mature—you will be individual and united—and you will be happy, even if or when tragedy strikes.
Adam and Eve faced tragedies, starting with the sneaky snake. And God put a wall of enmity to protect them from that snake. To protect their love from hate, and fear. Because there are enemies that want to destroy your love. Each of you would crush them if they came directly at your loved ones—so they come from the side. Sneaky like that snake that first tricked them. And the enemies will try and trick you into believing that you are each other’s enemies. And that the wall of enmity meant to protect you from the darkness should be used to protect you from each other. Don’t buy that lie. Remember, you are always on the same team.
3. PURPOSE: That brings me to truth number three: Our divine heritage as children of God. We are here to learn to turn darkness to light, sorrow to joy, pain into purpose.
And we can overcome any tragedy, any difficulty, and grow closer if we keep our hearts soft and pure, like the cycle of the sun rising to cast out the darkness.
So when we are injured, when we ache, or when we sorrow, we can learn to take our wounds to Christ.
He can turn any sorrow into joy, any ash into beauty, any pain into strength.
But He wants to teach us how to do this - together. Every experience is a gift. Every experience we have is meant to draw us closer to Him and to each of us, so we can find joy together.
It seems Heaven is meant for duets, not solos.
So, let Him into your song. He is the master of all song, that sings the Song of Redeeming Love. He sings to us to teach us how to sing together with our hearts. And as we let Christ add truth and light to our song, nothing will a couple from each other or from Him. In fact, He’ll teach us to build Heaven here on Earth with Him. And we will have more bounty and dance and song than we ever thought possible.
As we wear our rings, and feel the weight and symbolism each day, we are invited to remember the power of our love for each other, and God’s love for us, and that with Him, nothing is impossible.
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