The Marriage of a Family – Roots Intertwining and Fusing into One

These days, for two people getting married, it is not at all unusual that one or both of them have been married before and have children. So, oftentimes now, it is not just the couple joining their lives together in marriage, but also it’s a joining of their families, their children, together. In a sense, it is the whole family getting married. At a wedding I officiated last Saturday, near Albany NY, the bride and groom married each other AND the bride’s three young children. As part of the ceremony, they asked me to share this story:

“Along the California coast, there lives a community of sequoia trees, some reaching over 350 feet into the air. Some of these giants are over 2000 years old, unscathed by wind and rain, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires. But how? How do they survive all this fury? One would think it must be the depth of their roots or perhaps their brute strength and solidarity. Actually, it is quite the opposite. The roots of a 250-foot tall sequoia are a mere 5 feet deep. 5 feet! Instead of growing down into the earth to find the sustenance they need, they grow out – up to 50 feet, in search of one another. When they find each other, their roots intertwine and they fuse into one – supporting, strengthening – an entire network of roots, spreading far and wide, holding each other, sharing with each other – their lives becoming one so that each magnificent tree can not only grow but thrive – reaching its branches high to the sun.

And so it is with this family today. We join our hands and our hearts, becoming an intertwined network of strength, support, of LOVE, surrounding and supporting, nourishing and growing together as family, facing the storms of life, More