Tough decision to make

[David Graham]

This friday night, I've got a tough decision to make.......
will I be watching the royal wedding or...... Friday night football???
Now while I admit being a Royalist, I also like to watch the footy..... however,
My wife wants to watch the wedding, so maybe the decisions already been made :tongue:
but which one would you prefer to watch??

[Dennis M. Scott]

Whatever she wants.

[Diane Likens]

NatGeo

[Peggy Gray]

I'd rather watch a blank screen than either one.

[Jim Chabot]

I'd rather watch a blank screen than either one.

Amen!

Although, whatever she wants does appear to be the wise and loving choice.

[Greg Farra]

David,

You've got to be a man. Let her watch the wedding during halftime.

[Ryan Pugh]

Prefer to watch? Definitely football.

But this is where two TVs comes in handy...

[Gina Stevenson]

Whatever she wants.

Yes, Dennis has that right ... you have heard,


"Happy Wife, Happy Life," haven't you, David? :smilies1722:

[Bob Williams]

Football

[Hans Deventer]

Neither.

[Dennis M. Scott]

Of course we have to remember a prince getting married only happens two or three times in the life of every prince. And who's to say that Charles is finished? There probably won't be more than a dozen or so opportunities in our lifetime to see such a British event.

[Roland Hearn]

But Dennis the Brisbane team are on a six game winning streak. Footy David - hands down. We know that royal weddings don't last but footy games are the stuff of legends.

Anyway as I understand it the Friday night footy is being delayed until 8:30 to get the wedding in.

Oh and by the way Hans, I'm thinking of taking you to a footy game so you can appreciate a genuinely cultural event :-)

[Hans Deventer]

Oh and by the way Hans, I'm thinking of taking you to a footy game so you can appreciate a genuinely cultural event :-)

Cool! Love to join you!! And if it turns out I don't like the game, I'll probably like watching you loving it :-)

[Roland Hearn]

Well while waiting for the footy to start I watched the wedding with my wife and youngest daughter. Emmy said that she had watched Charles and Diana's wedding with her mother at exactly the same age as our youngest so she said it is now a family tradition that must be carried through the ages.

That aside was anyone as wowed by the message as I was. I kept on just saying "wow - that is good stuff." "I want to go to that guy's church." "He can preach at Newstart any time." He had a great quote from Chaucer that I am going to do my best to hunt down about Mastery and the affect it has on the God of love.

I'm performing my niece's wedding today and instead of preaching I think I will just get everyone to go and watch a tape of that guy's message - he said everything that I would want to say. If the church had held true to that message across the ages we would not have credibility issues today.

[Roland Hearn]

Found it:
Love will not be constrained by mastery;
When mastery 'comes, the god of love anon
Beats his fair wings, and farewell! He is gone!
Chaucer - Canterbury Takes

[Roland Hearn]

And here is the homily in its entirety, If you didn't hear it take time to read it, there is lots to be proud of in the world wide family of God:

Dr. Richard Chartres, Anglican Bishop of London

Dearly Beloved...

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[John Reilly]

What Wedding?

[Dennis M. Scott]

What Wedding?

John, you've got to get out of Keene a little more often.

[Hans Deventer]

And here is the homily in its entirety, If you didn't hear it take time to read it, there is lots to be proud of in the world wide family of God:

I hadn't heard it yesterday, but this is a very good message indeed. Thanks for posting, Roland!

[Roland Hearn]

BTW - I did get the chance to quote Dr. Chatres in my neice's wedding. It went very well and we decided that her wedding was the important one for the weekend.

[Marsha Lynn]

This friday night, I've got a tough decision to make.......
will I be watching the royal wedding or...... Friday night football???
Now while I admit being a Royalist, I also like to watch the footy..... however,
My wife wants to watch the wedding, so maybe the decisions already been made :tongue:
but which one would you prefer to watch??

So are you going to share with us your resolution to this quandary?

[David Graham]

Well as it turned out, I had to go down to Brisbane friday afternoon to attend classes at Uni all day Saturday, and so we stayed at my Mum and Sister's home friday night. Let's just say that neither my mum nor sister nor wife are very keen on football....... so we watched THE wedding.

I'm not really into all that pomp and ceremony stuff, but from a Christian point of view I think it sent all the "right" messages about priorities and commitment. Also, since (I hope), William will eventually become our head of state, I'm quite impressed with his and Kate's level of maturity, and so I am hoping they'll become good role models for other young adults in my country.

As an aside though, I absolutely hated some of the hats that a number of the "younger", women were wearing. Some of them reminded me of "Satellite dishes", including the "smaller dish" worn by our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard....... but then as my wife reminds me, I know very little about fashion.

[Gina Stevenson]

Oh, yeah ... thanks, David, for the satellite dish hat reminder; I wrote about the deer rack (on one of Sarah's daughters) and forgot I'd seen a satellite dish after I saw that one! ;)

[Roland Hearn]

I'm so sorry you missed the game - it was awesome. Brisbane just shut the Bulldogs down, just like they have done all year. I love Gus's description - he says they are a boa constrictor they just crush the life out of all opposition. Apparently they are the strongest team that the Broncos have ever put on the field smashing all previous records and it just shows when some of those kids just throw tackles off them. I love this season. I hope we survive through the rep period. Oops this should probably be on the sports forum but this is real important stuff.