Of Ripples and Wings

We landed in ripples, like a flock of blue-birds on a mid-winter's day, hungry and tracking the light.  At the end of a well-worn path winding up three flights of stairs, we found sanctuary--an upper room shot with sunbeam.  Fifty years one day early, we came to celebrate and were surrounded, the atmosphere pregnant with joy of those who came before us.  

We didn't have to say it.  We could sense Him there as well, winging His way through each of us, and shining light on 50 years. A jubilee!  Every day our lives proclaim it.  Love shines through the ages and in the eyes of ones who see.

I used to think God was angry and lived far away.  He definitely wouldn't be caught in a brewery, or loving the likes of me.  I didn't know Him then.  But I have watched Heaven make its home in this family one ripple at a time.  And I have seen love shining through every generation, in all of us vowing to never let go, and to never stop giving each other wings to fly...the way that lovers do.

Ripples...

Heaven came in our hearts that day, in our gathering to honor a covenant, and in that burn of beam breaking through the panes, shimmering over the scarred wood of a tavern table, and kissing cheeks golden before circling on the pub wall behind were my parents sat.

 

Ahhh, God was there--I am convinced of it--for 3 hours, eating, drinking, singing and laughing!  Did you know God laughs?  And he doesn't mind a beer or two, the guys sampling ale and all of us getting high on the sugary perfection of a strawberry-filled, almond-iced cake--where just an hour earlier two love-birds perched under a canopy of gold and ribbons.
 

Over coffee my parents opened gifts and cards. And for another hour we reminisced, how years ago they rode away on a Honda Gold Wing, leaving us with our grandparents for weeks at a time to travel the states--all but one--and, "Wouldn't it be nice if this year they could tour the 50th--across the waves to Hawaii-- on their Harley?"

The sun crept slow toward the horizon, its laser beam falling like blessing on Mom and Dad.  No one wanted to leave, but we carried love and laughter across the street to say good-bye under the eaves of the gazebo. Still singing and acting silly, we snapped photos:  of Dad holding Mom's purse and all of us holding each other for warmth.
 

Our family is like that, never waning to let go.

Earlier in the day, before light dawned, I pondered a legacy--this marriage of half a century and its ripples--of two lives coming together to impact so many.  And somewhere in the dark I caught a glimpse of how we all intersect in ways seen and unseen--except by the Spirit.

I remembered waves and Physics class--how boring it was to me then!--and how when opposites meet (a crest and trough) they stop to catch their breath and disappear, becoming one with the way they are traveling. And when two waves of like mind connect ( 2 crests or 2 troughs) they combine to magnify the height or depth of each other.

In both cases, the ripples continue to wash through each other in continued movement, their energy effecting change in the world around them.

Ripples by Phillie Casablanca - flickr (CC by 2.0)

I Googled, and saw how the graphs of the points of intersection of two sets of waves form back-to-back hyperbolas...

...like two sets of wings touching shoulder to shoulder and moving in unison...

...like two lives taking flight as one... 

...and our parents catching us up to ride the tailwinds like we did as children on the back of their motorcycle, heads thrown back, holding on for life, faces to the sun...

...and our running to hide under their feathers when the storms came...

...and when all seemed shadow, how they shielded us, sometimes imperfectly with feathers broken, but always persevering, ebbing and flowing, giving and gathering, washing through each other with life. 

Because of our legacy--because of the Light we see--we too, have learned to overcome, to never stop seeking and believing, always digging deeper and returning to love. 

And Love, like waves, washes through, imparting from those before us and to those yet to come, the strength and inspiration to fly free, to carry on.

To ripple.

So the journey continues, of ripples and wings, all golden.  Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! This is for you, with love.

Of Ripples and Wings

Like the ripples from two stones dropped into a pond, two worlds collide in a million points of light. Two words splash from the heart of God and dance the waves of time, weaving a tale of faith, hope and love, in mortal flesh combining.

Two hearts reaching wide, gather grace and impact lives, share their dreams and sacrifice, and live to tell a story--this prosody of crests, an ebb and flow in water’s depths, each flash of fire and gasp of breath and the perpetual washing through each other, all reflection in the Son.

And golden rings entwine forever, changing the shape of mediocrity, and a life-time of fiery encounters wrap the world in current, filling earth shadows with glory, as waters cover the seas.  Two sets of golden wings take flight-- like their Father, splashing light--and two faces burn with His decree.

Let there be light and let there be dancing! Let there be laughter lapping every golden shore when two ships turn in the night, always searching and circling for more. And let this love burn bright a flame of jubilee, leading the way across the waves for many sons and daughters to see and dance and be.

2012 Melissa Campbell

All photos in this blog (with the exception of Ripples by Phillie Casablanca, Flickr) are licensed as: All rights reserved by Melissa Campbell.