March 11 – “Mini-hurricanes”

We went to the rehearsal last night for a wedding I’m doing tonight.  It’s the wedding that was scheduled for the church that burned down a month or so ago.  The bride and groom were able to find an alternative venue at the Central Christian Church.  That’s one I had never been inside of.  And its design was very … interesting.  It had the traditional center aisle with pews on each side.  Very intimate feel, nice for a wedding. 

Kind of a God-church feel as you looked toward the platform area.  Your eyes wanted to move upward.  But then there wasn’t all that much to look at as your eyes rose, so the next logical eye movement was in the Jesus church direction – look around.  That’s when I began to notice something a bit strange.  The walls were … stone.  Not decorative stone, mind you.  They just looked like flat concrete blocks, all stacked on one another from floor to ceiling.  All in all it looked to be a great place to be in a hurricane … or a nuclear holocaust.

And on the stage was a table.  A stone table.  It wasn’t cracked in the center yet, so I suppose Aslan hadn’t been there.  (A little literary imagery there).  The thing about the table though, aside from its … uh, sturdiness … was the fact that it only came up to just below my waist.  And all along the back side of it were chairs.  Stone chairs.  And everything was somehow bolted into the floor.  Now the chairs had comfortable cushions in them, and the table had a state of the art microphone sitting on it.  It’s just that a stone table was not at all what I expected to have to work around.  We got everyone placed, though, and I think some of the little kids might even make it all the way down the aisle.  There are five involved, not counting the junior bridesmaid.  She’ll be fine.  As will the older of the ring bearers.  It’s the three under the age of three that will be the wild cards.  But as I told the wedding party, whatever they do will be the right thing.  Just go with the flow.  Hey, if the building can withstand a hurricane outside, we can handle the antics of some precious little mini-hurricanes inside.

Revelation 5:11-12 says, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”

Father, send your Spirit in a great way tonight.  Grant us all flexibility to go along with our anticipation.  Amen.