the Bride

I have a secret for you. Are you ready?

I think about... weddings.

Yep, that's my secret: I think about something that many normal girls think about. It's a secret because I make a big show of acting like I don't think about it, like I don't care about that stuff. I enjoy going to weddings and talking about other people's weddings, but I make sure people know I NEVER think about what it would be like to have my own... LIES.

One of the biblical metaphors for Christ & the church is marriage. The church is the Bride, who misbehaves a lot but is still loved by the groom, Christ. This analogy tends to make me a bit misty-eyed, because it makes me think of weddings and my own past. I think about what it would be like to be that Bride, in the flesh, broken but loved anyway. However, I know that extending the analogy to cast a human husband as Christ is dangerous ground; no man can or should fill that role.

I don't remember the first time I heard about women becoming nuns by partaking in an actual marriage service where they make vows to Jesus. I researched it a little and watched a clip of one such ceremony and it made me so happy to see the joy on the faces of these women. They are marrying the One they love, committing to a life of serving Him. I am jealous in a way. I don't necessarily agree with all the accompanying dogma, but I am drawn to the thought of marrying Jesus and living in community with others who have done the same. What freedom!