LSD AND MARRIAGE

I did a wedding with a few other pastors this last weekend for two friends- Trevor and Amber. It was tons of fun and reminded me why I love ministry and what I do. I had some great conversations, laughed a lot, and did some running down memory lane. I was reminded of the beauty of new love and the deep respect I have for love that lasts. I was reminded again that I care very little about much that doesn’t advance relationships. I was reminded that what I want to be remembered for is not accomplishments, but a relational cup that is overflowing with people who know I care about them, will fight for them, and love them unconditionally. Over the last few days, I enjoyed getting to know new friends and catching up with old ones. Weddings are good times. This one surely was.

But, of all the things I will remember, I think at least one of them will be LSD. A man (I’m guessing in his 60’s) who Trevor introduced as a great mentor in his life was called up and asked to pray for them at their reception. In his prayer, he said, “I pray God, that you would give them generous amounts of LSD”. I tried not to laugh out loud- wondering if he knew what he just said. He then paused for a good long 3 seconds to let what he prayed soak in (knowing full well what he had said) and then clarified with the phrase, “Love, Support, and Devotion”. To be honest, I’m not sure what he said after that, because my mind was off to never never land and down a memory lane of acrostics and play on words from my past.

Here’s where my brain went: In high school my cross country coach used to say we’re going to do a little LSD today and he called it “Long, Slow, Distance.” But, this was the first time I’d heard LSD in a prayer. One time I was in a staff meeting years ago and a woman who was near retirement on our staff and ran the children’s program at our church came into the meeting and announced that she had been going through her video library at church and wanted to know if anyone had any use for a bunch of “adult videos”. I said I could use them to increase attendance and fell off my chair laughing. I think I was the only one in the staff meeting who thought that was funny. Then, once when I was in college I heard a message on how Jesus was treated by his followers around Easter time and the outline spelled BARF. He was Betrayed, Abandoned, Rejected, and Forgotten. For some stupid reason, I’ve never forgot that either.

When I finally pulled my brain back into the year 2005, I smiled as this man shared his creative and sincere love for God and this couple though prayer. We then kicked his “LSD” comment around in conversation at the table for a few minutes. My conclusion is this: thanks to Trevor’s wedding, I will be surely writing a messages for my high school group titled, “LSD: why we all need copious amounts of it”. Here’s to a life of Love, Support and Devotion- especially when it comes to marriage.