Love, Community, Ritual

Samantha Tan and I got married this weekend!  What an incredibly joyful time!  I can’t begin to do justice to the wellspring of emotion that seems to be bursting from within me, but I do want to offer a brief and relevant reflection for our readers.

Marriage is between two people, and it is rooted in their love from one another – it is a link, a commitment, a connection but it itself exists within the web of connection.  Our wedding brought together a rich network of loving relationships from all aspects of our lives.  Family, colleagues, long time friends and new friends, comrades, artists, children and elders – a well-woven web of love all connected to our own node of love.  It was community, and it was love made visible.

In a society that celebrates the greatness of the individual (and YES! the individual is indeed great!), it is not always easy to see the relationships that make it possible for individuals to thrive.  But the ritual of marriage, the music, food and libations – the spiritual rites, traditions and ceremonies – all of these serve to bring multiple planes together – that which is invisible becomes suddenly palpable and we are suddenly united by the bonds that make us human.

I am deeply grateful for being part of this network, this community of love, and for access to the rituals that make the ineffable effable.  Thank you so much!