20050715

mystery and marriage

Eleven days ago, I married the woman sitting here beside me.
She is so beautiful. I love her soul.
Even now as I watch her dream, my heart goes out to her.
Nearly seven years I have known her, watched her, and loved her.
The knowing has changed and the love with it, but the watching is the same.
Or so it feels.
I watch her eyes still, beautiful closed or open, and wonder.
Yes, both awe and curiosity, for she is both beautiful and other.
Even as we two become one, she is other.
She is not me; I am not her.
The otherness makes the union beautiful.
And the union is a fascinating mystery.
It is not a puzzle or mere idiosyncrasy, but a true mystery.
And like any true mystery, it touches all other true mysteries.
God, free will, existence, beauty, laughter, the Cross...
And it provokes both awe and curiosity, for all true mysteries cause man to wonder.
They teach us that life has meaning, it is more than just living.
Equally so, they teach humility; they tell us we are very small and limited.
Sitting here, a married man with his wife resting on his shoulder,
I am deeply moved by the mystery of marriage.
It is beautiful.
So is she.