What God Had in Mind

I have been married for fifteen years. I am so blessed to have found my husband. I never could have imagined finding a man more suited to who I am and who I want to become. I thank God every day for him.

When I was younger, I spent a lot of useless time worrying about who I would marry. I was concerned that any man who would want to marry me would probably be a bore. I couldn't imagine spending my entire adult life with a boring person. This thought really troubled me.

Well, JD is anything but boring. And what I have learned is that God had a love story in mind for me, one which I could not have chosen myself. I didn't even have a clue about what love could be. But God had love in mind from the beginning, before I even knew what it really looked like.

The first fully documented liturgy of the early Christian Church took place on Easter.

For forty days, people who wanted to become Christian had to study and fast. All during Lent, they were separated from the body of the Church, they read and they prayed. Then on the Eve of Easter, they got ready for the biggest celebration of their lives.

The Catechumens, those about to become Christian, wore white, like brides. All through the night, the early church read to them from the Hebrew Scriptures, with only the light of the Pascal candle to see by. All through the night, they heard the history of the Hebrew people and how they waited, longing for a Messiah to save them. They heard about Adam and Eve, about how Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac, about how their people escaped from slavery in Egypt, about how Elijah had a vision of dry bones rising into bodies. And as they heard these ancient texts, the people realized once more how God had love in mind for them from the beginning. They had no idea what a true Messiah would look like, but God knew. And when they were ready, God showed them how this love had been woven into the fabric of their lives from the beginning of creation.

Once all the readings were over, just as the sun was about to rise, the early Christians baptized the Catechumens. And as the waters of baptism poured over the heads of the new believers, the sun rose. And with the coming of the dawn, the church celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, shouting and dancing for joy.

We had no idea what loved looked like until Jesus came. And once he came, everything else made sense. God had love in mind for us from the very beginning.

- The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead