Sometimes It's Not About Me...but it is...

I have already had quite a few moments where I've felt like a celebrity in my life. As it is almost Christmas, I am feeling quite sentimental, and am reminded of a time just over a year ago when I was asked to give the toast at my sister's wedding.

You hand me a microphone and I will make it a night to remember.

Sadly, my toast was never caught on tape (neither was my tear-jerking rendition of "In Whatever Time We Have") but I have recreated it here to the best of my memory to be documented for years to come.

As my sister is one of my biggest fans, I dedicate today's blog post to her and her husband who has just returned from Iraq. A beauty and a hero...quite a pair.

Merry Christmas to Morgan and Michael.
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Through the process of this wedding I have learned a few things about love. As we heard at the ceremony today, the Bible has given us a definition of love we've read for centuries...but I'm not sure I entirely agree. Therefore, I present to you a revised letter to the Corinthians:

Dear Corinthians,

It turns out...love is not so patient. My sister and her husband have known each other for what? Three weeks now? And based on some of the verbal exchanges I have had with my sister during the decision making process of this wedding...love is not so kind either. Then you throw in the outrageous amount of money our parents have spent for the decorations and the limo and the dress and there is DEFINITELY some boasting going on here.

So then...what is love?

Well, modern science will tell us that love is just a series of chemical reactions, a mammalian drive not much different than hunger or thirst. Modern psychology will tell us that love is a cognitive and social phenomenon. Throw all that on top of religion and it seems we have no clue exactly what love is.

And yet love is something that consumes our entire lives. We all seem to want it, but once we have it, we're not entirely sure what to do with it.

Turn to your right and then turn to your left. Chances are, you "love" at least one of those people. Some of you have "loved' that person for years if not decades.

Love has been the reason for war. Love has cost lives and created lives.

"I love you" are considered the three most powerful words one can use in a phrase.We start off worrying we say it too much...and then once it's gone we're worried that we didn't say it enough.

We say "all you need is love"...and still we have no idea what love is.

And I think that's what's most exciting about it. Corinthians, we don't need to define love to know that we need love.

A wise man named Gandolf once told me "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us".

So...why not choose to love?

Ladies and gentleman...Corinthians...if you would raise your glasses and join me in a toast to the most beautiful bride I've ever seen and the luckiest man alive...who have just made the smartest decision of their lives...

to love.

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To love,

TJB: Making It