I was looking for The Weather Channel the other night and, instead, landed on one of those shows about nasty brides, obnoxious bridesmaids and the grooms who leave them all standing at the altar. Wasn't a pleasant second in the 14 minutes I watched. Couldn't help but wonder, "What are those people thinking?!"
We've all been to weddings--and they're usually as unique as the people getting married--from the dresses and suits (or not) to the music for the ceremony and the wording of the vows to the food and location chosen for the whole event. I can't say that I've been to one yet that I haven't enjoyed!
There is, however, one that I remember more clearly than most, and that was the first "destination" wedding we attended. Everyone went south for the celebration and it was a lot of fun.
The ceremony was held in a beautiful church--I don't remember if it was an Eastern Orthodox rite or a Coptic Orthodox Church or what, but it was beautiful and so was the ceremony.
Yet, it wasn't the church that made the wedding so memorable. It was what happened inside. From the moment the processional music started, there was (for me and a few others, at least) an tangible change in the way the inside of the church felt. Initially, I just thought it was the happiness of the event and the anticipation of the bride walking down the aisle.
After following the route of the third bridesmaid (there were 7 or 8)up to the front of the church, I glanced up at the altar and saw what could only be described as a luminescent gathering of angels--wings and all--who were literally arriving from behind and to the side of the altar (from above) and forming what appeared to be one of the biggest "choirs of angels" imaginable. They appeared to be everywhere, from the floor to way up beyond the ceiling. It was incredible!
I was surprised and delighted and was going to say something about it to the person next to me, when I realized that it didn't seem like anyone else had noticed. I watched the rest of the bridesmaids walk up and kept an eye on the angels at the altar--they were still there.
Then, when the music changed and the bride entered and walked up the aisle, it seemed as if more angels came from all directions to take their places at the altar. It was something else. (For the record: I'm not one of those people who sees angels all the time and could probably count the times I have on one hand.)
The impression I got was that this wedding was a special event that was being celebrated in the heaven world--big time. The angels seemed to embody joy and solemnity at the same time--with an intense radiation of light, of gold and white and pink and other colors. They were there for the entire ceremony, until the bride and groom walked out. As soon as they exited, I looked back at the altar--and, they were gone.
Of course, I said NOTHING. About 45 minutes later, a young woman I was with said, "Did you notice all the light that came down around the altar when the music started?" I was relieved that someone else had seen it. Another young woman said, "Yes--did you see how intense it got when the bride came down the aisle and joined the groom?" Yep, we'd seen it and felt it. One of them said, "It felt like there were hundreds of angels up at the altar."
I did not go into great detail about what I had seen (at least not then), and decided against describing everything to the happy couple...lest they thought I had a couple glasses of punch before the reception!
So, what did I figure? I figured it was most likely that we had been invited to and witnessed a wedding of two people who were (are) twin flames, which is a spiritual bond that is deeper than that of soul mates. I read long ago that all of heaven rejoices when twin flames finally find each other (after many embodiments apart) and recognize each other and end up together fulfilling their divine plan.
Anyway--it is the memory of this particular wedding that often leaves me smiling.
For more information about twin flames and soul mates, I recommend reading Soul Mates and Twin Flames, by Elizabeth Clare Prophet--a best seller for decades.
