On any given day, just one of these news stories would have been huge. But they all seemed to come forward on Friday, and all had to share the spotlight today, unremarkably.
Another massive school shooting occurs, in which ten people were killed.
A jet crashes in Cuba, killing 110.
A school bus crashes in New Jersey, killing two and injuring more than 30 Fifth Graders.
Another major volcanic eruption on the island of Hawaii.
More scandal unfolds in the Presidential Administration.
And the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Some days, the proverbial poop hits the fan.
All of it is troubling, sad, and upsetting.
Except for the last one on the list.
I had no intention of watching the wedding. In fact, I didn’t much care one way or the other about the event. I was very glad for them and their wedded bliss. But it wasn’t something that I followed, or knew much about.
Yet this morning, I flipped on the TV, as I always do. I like the background noise as I go about my household work. The wedding was being broadcast on every channel known to man. It was hard not to take notice when there was nowhere else to go.
I kept one eye on the show, as I did my “things” around the kitchen. And I was glad I did. The entire thing was absolutely beautiful. Magical. A ceremony filled with joy, and wonder, and love.
It was obvious that the bride and groom are deeply in love with one another. It touched my heart to see them. But it was amidst a swirl of king and queenly circumstance. A thing from another world. An existence of royalty and tradition.
I know there are many who think the wealth and the extravagance is overly abundant. And it may very well be.
But.
Smack dab in the middle of the entire exhibition, were two hearts, beating as one.
A fairy tale indeed.
So yes, it made me happy to watch.
And it reminded me that love is the way. It is the thing we all need. Showing it to, and sharing it with, one another.
Love works in mysterious and wonderful ways.
Love makes miracles happen.
A thing of fairy tales.
More importantly, a thing of life.
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“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
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“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
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“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
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