ervicesdirectory/82.3 b column.pdf · corinthians 13:13:"there are three things that last:...

ERVICES DIRECTORY/82.3

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IRELIGION EDITORISEV RINALDI'330-6309Isrinaldi@ctpost.comI

BCONNECTICUT POST

SATURDAYSEPTEMBER 30, 2006

When I look out from the pulpitand I see couples that have beentogether for 40 or 50 years holdinghands, I think what a miracle. What agift from God that these people havefound each other and continue tomake the choice day in and day out tostay together. .It is then that I ask myself how IS

it that such a rare gift of love andcommitment could be consideredanything less than sacred? I amblessed to serve a congregation and achurch in which we recognize allcommitted relationships, and I amthrilled now to live in a state thatallows me to publicly celebrate suchloving, committed relationships. Oneyear ago on Oct. 1: the ~t~teo~Connecticut legalIzed cIvil umons.As a clergyperson, I turn to the

text that I have read for so manyweddings, the words of St. Paul to thechurch at Corinth, the text of 1Corinthians 13:13: "There are threethings that last: faith, hope and love;and the greatest of these is love." Inrecognition of these teachings Icelebrate all love, and all committedrelationships as gifts from a sourcewiser than any I could ever know.

Rev. Julie-Ann Silberman-Bunn ispastor of the Unitarian UniversalistChurch of Greater Bridgeport,Stratford.

REFLECTIONSREV. JULIE-ANNSILBERMAN-

BUNN

Committed, lovingrelationship isa gift from God

ILove is one of those rare and: transient things that we all seek

in life. We seek the love and'affection of our family and friends.We seek to know the love of ourcommunity and of a spiritual force,be it God, or Allah, Adonai, theGodde~s, or some other force with no'name.

Marriage as we know it today is arelatively new creation, a legal bond,which has more social benefits andtax implications than we realize. I as,a minister can legally solemnize aIwedding by virtue of my religious,office. I am clergy, but the licensemust be issued and recorded by acivil authority to be considered legal.I have a hard time understandingthis mixed nature of marriage.For me marriage is a sacred rite, a

Iholy union between two people. I amblessed as a clergypersori to beinvited to witness and affirm the lovewhich has grown up between twopeople, but I do not make themarriage or the union real. A realunion between two people comeswith time and effort; real unions are.,rooted in the commitment of twopeople to live their lives together, tostruggle through the good times andthe tough ones hand in hand.When I see a couple that has

weathered deaths and illnesses offamily and friends together, who havelaughed and cried together, who haveagreed and disagreed and workedthrough the consequences of their,decisions and who remain committedto spending holidays and holy dayswith one another's family year afteryear, I think that that is a real union.