{"id":4059,"date":"2024-10-03T07:06:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T11:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4059"},"modified":"2024-10-03T07:07:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T11:07:21","slug":"i-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/03\/i-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"I Believe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

Over the years I\u2019ve had the privilege of officiating at a number of weddings.

On the whole, those brides and grooms have had very little in common.

Some have been tall and some have been short. Some have been quiet, while others have been exuberant. Some would have jumped at the chance to star in an episode of Say Yes to the Dress<\/em>, while others loved staying under the radar. 

One couple I married hadn\u2019t yet graduated from high school. Another couple actually met <\/u><\/em>at their 50th<\/sup> high school reunion. 

Most of the weddings have taken place in chapels or church sanctuaries. Others have happened in private homes or civic buildings. Still others have been outdoors \u2013 along with occasional raindrops, scorching heat, and squadrons of mosquitoes flying in formation.

I\u2019ve performed weddings on beaches, atop mountains, in woods, and alongside a lighthouse.

Once I was officiating when a groomsman fainted into an open piano, which certainly struck a memorable chord. Another time, the maid of honor somehow lost the ring she was to give to the bride (we later found it had rolled all the way to one of the church\u2019s baseboards). When it came time for the bride to receive it and put it on her new husband\u2019s finger, I quickly substituted my own wedding ring. I\u2019ll never forget the look of surprise on her face.  

While most grooms have been the picture of health, looking forward to the rest of their lives, one of them spoke his vows while lying in a hospital bed, knowing he had less than two months to live. \u201cI just want to leave this world knowing we got married.\u201d

Some couples have been wealthy and immediately took off to honeymoons on other continents. Others were barely able to scrape together enough to pay the modest fee to get their wedding license.

I\u2019ve seen a lot of different brides and grooms.

But I\u2019ve never once <\/em>seen a bride or a groom come to their own wedding and casually say \u201cI do\u201d without having given some serious thought as to how proclaiming those two little words was going to change their life forever.

It\u2019s striking how often people of faith say two other words \u2013 \u201cI believe\u201d \u2013 without really comprehending the consequences of making such a statement.

Whatever your convictions about spiritual realities, are you in danger of committing spiritual perjury because you haven\u2019t seriously tried to connect your life with your words?

There are many different statements or creeds by which we can affirm our core beliefs.

Here\u2019s a simple one that reflects the Christ-following tradition. If you feel so led, you can even make these words your own:

I believe.<\/em>
I believe in one God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.<\/em>
I believe that the Father loves me with a love that is immeasurably more than all I can ask or imagine.<\/em>
I believe there is one hope for this world and one hope for my life as well \u2013 and that is Jesus Christ.<\/em>
I believe that the Holy Spirit is even now transforming me into the person God has always intended me to be.<\/em>
By God\u2019s grace I will choose every day to live out what I say I believe.<\/em>
With God\u2019s help I will extend God\u2019s love to every person I meet, no matter who they are or what they believe.<\/em>
Through God\u2019s power I will continue to believe \u2013 until in heaven, face to face with the Lord, my believing will at last become sight.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Over the years I\u2019ve had the privilege of officiating at a number of weddings. On the whole, those brides and grooms have had very little in common. Some have been tall and some have been short. Some have been quiet, while others have been exuberant. Some would have jumped at the chance to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[464,127,814],"class_list":["post-4059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belief","tag-faith","tag-weddings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4059"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4062,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4059\/revisions\/4062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}