Once Upon a Time is Today
Sermon
ROSES, RINGS & REJOICING
From the days of your childhood, ____ and ____ , you have heard a good many stories which began, "Once upon a time...." Before you embark upon your married life together, moving from this community which has nurtured you and still loves you, I shall make certain you hear one more.
Once upon a time there was a man and a woman. As their lives grew out beyond the boundaries of their separate families, they came to know each other, and as time passed, to love each other. In many ways they were much alike, in other ways very different. In the ways they were alike, they found one another to be delightful companions. In the ways they were different, they were thrilled with the venture of new worlds to be shared. But in all ways, and at every turn in the road, they found love in each other.
One day they decided the world must know this. And so, from city and country, near by and far away, they called together their friends and neighbors and family, that all might know the joy they had found in each other. These people gathered, bringing with them gifts of love and hopes for the future. As they joined with one another on the joyful occasion, as they pondered and prayed, as they reflected on the future before the man and the woman, a few practical souls among them found themselves wondering: can a young man and a young woman find happiness in a place called (your town)? If there were any among the well-wishers who doubted, surely it was not the man and woman themselves. For them it was not even a question. They knew the answer, because in their love they shared the deep truth of a powerful secret.
They had discovered, you see, that happiness was not tied to any one place but to finding their place. And the place they had selected to begin their life together they would make their own. They would live in it and they would love it. To it they would give their own creative touch. And it would not be just any place but their place, because God had so ordained it. For their God hallowed all places, especially those where a man and a woman live together in love.
They had discovered, too — this man and this woman — that bigness was not a guarantee of happiness. While others may have thought a castle on the Rhine River or a penthouse in a great city was necessary or at least desirable, they had made a more profound discovery that life was more a question of largeness of heart. It was a matter of love. It was a matter of being big enough to say "I love you" or "I'm sorry" or "Let's do something that'll please us both." Where people live that way, no place is ever small.
Let others call it small, they thought; we know far better! They knew that often life is found not in what you see, but in how you see. And where they went, they would find beauty and goodness in the lives of people, just as they had found beauty and goodness and delight in each other. Some told them, you must go for the gold, the dollars, the money; but they knew a deeper secret. They set their own values which especially celebrated people.
So, at this grand gathering to which they invited family and friends, they sang two songs: one of bright and shining hopefulness because of all God's creation, including their love for each other; and the other of thankfulness for all the saints — the people, especially gathered family and friends — who are part of God's grand network of love in their lives. As they sang, they felt themselves caught up by a great and ancient truth which surpassed all understanding. And in that truth which is love, they would happily live their days.
Once upon a time, ____ and ____ , is today. Your joy is our joy. Your love for each other is full of promise, because love is of God. And that's no fairy tale! Amen
— Glenn L. Borreson
First Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Once upon a time there was a man and a woman. As their lives grew out beyond the boundaries of their separate families, they came to know each other, and as time passed, to love each other. In many ways they were much alike, in other ways very different. In the ways they were alike, they found one another to be delightful companions. In the ways they were different, they were thrilled with the venture of new worlds to be shared. But in all ways, and at every turn in the road, they found love in each other.
One day they decided the world must know this. And so, from city and country, near by and far away, they called together their friends and neighbors and family, that all might know the joy they had found in each other. These people gathered, bringing with them gifts of love and hopes for the future. As they joined with one another on the joyful occasion, as they pondered and prayed, as they reflected on the future before the man and the woman, a few practical souls among them found themselves wondering: can a young man and a young woman find happiness in a place called (your town)? If there were any among the well-wishers who doubted, surely it was not the man and woman themselves. For them it was not even a question. They knew the answer, because in their love they shared the deep truth of a powerful secret.
They had discovered, you see, that happiness was not tied to any one place but to finding their place. And the place they had selected to begin their life together they would make their own. They would live in it and they would love it. To it they would give their own creative touch. And it would not be just any place but their place, because God had so ordained it. For their God hallowed all places, especially those where a man and a woman live together in love.
They had discovered, too — this man and this woman — that bigness was not a guarantee of happiness. While others may have thought a castle on the Rhine River or a penthouse in a great city was necessary or at least desirable, they had made a more profound discovery that life was more a question of largeness of heart. It was a matter of love. It was a matter of being big enough to say "I love you" or "I'm sorry" or "Let's do something that'll please us both." Where people live that way, no place is ever small.
Let others call it small, they thought; we know far better! They knew that often life is found not in what you see, but in how you see. And where they went, they would find beauty and goodness in the lives of people, just as they had found beauty and goodness and delight in each other. Some told them, you must go for the gold, the dollars, the money; but they knew a deeper secret. They set their own values which especially celebrated people.
So, at this grand gathering to which they invited family and friends, they sang two songs: one of bright and shining hopefulness because of all God's creation, including their love for each other; and the other of thankfulness for all the saints — the people, especially gathered family and friends — who are part of God's grand network of love in their lives. As they sang, they felt themselves caught up by a great and ancient truth which surpassed all understanding. And in that truth which is love, they would happily live their days.
Once upon a time, ____ and ____ , is today. Your joy is our joy. Your love for each other is full of promise, because love is of God. And that's no fairy tale! Amen
— Glenn L. Borreson
First Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
