Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 12, 29 September 1944, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Supplied by the Whakatf

TILL DEATH DO YOU PART

In a recent issue of The Readers Digest Judge Henry H. Curran, Chief Magistrate, City of New York, relates this little drama in every day l life:— "They looked strangely lonely as they stood before me waiting to be married. Hand in hand they clung to each other as though in a rtorm. The. light in the room was dim and outside it rained. There, was no laughing wedding party. One witness was, a friend, the other a clerk from my office; and they stood back in the shadow. 'Are we ready?' I asked the: couple when the papers had been made out. They both nodded, very slightly, standing a' little, straighter. The tall square-shouldered liputenant looked every inch a soldier, —but he had not smiled once since he came in, and now the blue eves irj his tanned face were looking somewhere beyond me. Her dark eyes were doing the. same thing. She was something more than beautiful. For a second there came to me again as background for the wedding of these babes in the wood, the great gray convoy I had seen that morning, ship after ship, covharbo;ir ready to sail into I the dark. He had told me he was under orders to go aboard at an hour's notice. That was why they had come to me in their hurry. She had flown from Ohio alone and •J with no minute, to spare to be. here in time. I began the little cere-i mony. 'Do you John, take Sarah to be your wife, to love, honour and protect for better for worse in sun- ' '1 O' shine and rain, till death do you part?' 'I do ' he answered quietly, still looking beyond me. 'Do you Sarah, take John to be your husband to love, honour and cherish for better for in » » i sunshine and rain, till death do you part?' 'I; do; It is a simple ceremony' They like it thatwwasy s I think, when a judge, instead of a clergyman marries them. Only the business of the ring was left to be done, and he managed it swiftly and firmly. As I started to tell them they were married, she interposed. 'I think 1 would like to say the Lord's Prayer,' she said 4 as though the idea had just come to her. We all bowed our heads, and she began (n a voice so low f could hardly hear: 'Our Father Who art in Heav-* en hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.—' Her voice was clearer now, and rising. We mumbled the words in unison, trying to give her company, to help". It was a lonely little prayer. '—On earth as it. is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive, us our trespasses as we

Nt Ministers' Association).

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

' forg'ivs those who trespass against US' —' With the old familiar words all our voices had risen. ' —And lead us not into temptation but"—Suddenly there was no Sound. Her lips were quivering and tears were coming. She clung closer to her husband trembling. For a moment the rest of us, stood uncertainly; then we carried on for her — 'but deliver us from evil.—' We spoke it out as once again I saw the gray ship. l :, and the gray evil beyond. Then she raised her head;, her eyes, shining. looked upward, and her voice came out full and clear. —'for Thine is the kingdom—and the power—and the glory—forever and ever —Amen. 1 ' In the dim light it seemed to me something more was shining,, some"thing of glory in her valiant, cleareyed trust. 'God bless you'—. . . I said, lyThey thankeu me, and then, as, they turned to go. they smiled, both of them together,"for the first time. They kept on; smiling, and as they neared the still hand in hand, and looking at each other, their heads were up, and their step was spring—and sunshine." They have touched our hearts, these two young people who are typical of so many others. As they go out the door, hand in we follow them with our kindly interest, and like the Judge, we say: 'God bles-s you.' Like another couple, in days gone by, they might pray: "Thou who art leading us by new ways which we know not j grant us | the. adventurous spirit. Make us willing to attempt new tasks, and face new ways, in Christian fellowship and service." "In Sunshine and rain, till death" ... so the marriage vows were taken, and the happiest couples are. those who recognise that clays of rain and fog, and cold wind, and driving gale are as inevitable in God's great scheme as the delightful days of sunshine. "A smooth sea never made a s'kilful mariner." Even so storms of adi ve.rsity rouse the faculties, and produce skill and fortitude and dependance upon God. These two in New York city did not make conditional promises to one another; they made vows,, life-' long and irrevicable, to. one another,, and to God. They undertook the whole business, of life together, to wrestle together with life's problems, working for their happiness, as they would work at any other worthwhile business. ' One writer has said: "This man and this woman will have to despair of their capacity to achieve in their own 'power a perfect human relationship. Bless--ed are they if . . . they come to their wedding with their egoisms transformed by the. grace of Christ."