It feels a little strange writing something in the past about the future. However, if everything went according to plan (maybe not even everything), yesterday Jessica and I were married. 

Thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray for us as I pray for you. 

I am looking forward to sharing pieces of it, stories and pictures with you very soon after my return. 

But for now, let me share just one element of the ceremony with you – the opening piece of music.

As we entered the chapel, our friend, Jason Wood, played and sang the first four verses of the Advent carol “People Look East,” along with an additional chorus that he wrote himself. 

An Advent carol might feel like a strange choice for a wedding just three days after the summer solstice, but let me explain. 

Firstly, June 24th is St. John the Baptist day, and St. John the Baptist is Mr. Advent. 

Secondly, it is one of my all-time favourite hymns, both in terms of the music, as well as the beauty and poetry of the lyrics. 

Lastly and most importantly, it is a hymn about love, a love that we anticipate, that we prepare for, that we delight in. And while in the context of this carol, this is the love made known to us in the coming of Jesus, the Love of God incarnate, Holy Matrimony is a sacrament, and so we claim it as a special sign, a channel, a reflection of that very same love, the great overflowing love God has for us and for this world. 

Go look up the hymn in the blue Common Praise hymn book (and give it a hum if you would like) in celebration with us. 

This is the chorus that Jason wrote for it:

        On the way. On the way. 
        We believe Love’s on the way. 
        On the way. On the way. 
        We believe that Love is on the way. 

Thanks be to God!

CG+