Walking down the aisle is no longer the only road to matrimony, it seems. On Saturday I watched my granddaughter, Courtney, walk barefoot over a wooden bridge, in her princess wedding gown, accompanied by her proud dad, to stand by Matt, the man she intends to spend the rest of her life with. The lake water lapped and glistened as if in symphony with the nature of this outdoor wedding.

Everything else was traditional in a sense. The wedding party, beautiful in their pastel gowns and gray suits, waited for the bride to take her place beside her groom and the service began.

It was both solemn and sweet as this special couple took their vows having eyes for only each other. I’m not sure whether the vows they repeated were written by themselves or the minister who performed the ceremony, but I do know that Saint Paul wrote the following words of love in 1 Corinthians 13:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails… ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

These words have been repeated at many wedding ceremonies over the centuries and my heart filled with love for the young couple hearing them now, probably for the very first time. I hope their love will remain as alive as it was on Saturday when Matthew watched his bride walking toward him,..barefoot over the bridge.