Mar 9 - "The Secret Ingredient"

John 2:1-10 -- “On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’ ” (a favorite)

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When we lived in south Florida many years back, attending the Chapel of St Andrew Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, we had an awesome priest...Father Steve...who had a great way of taking stories from the Bible and bringing forth meaning, previously undiscovered by others. Like some of the stories I share in these Lenten Reflections, I may have heard them from someone else and are just passing them along. Maybe Father Steve was doing the same, but either way, Greta and I remember him fondly because of this gift he was given and regularly offered to others.

When Father Steve first shared the story of Christ’s miracle of water to wine with us, he made the point to note that this miracle took place at a wedding. In his mind, this was not an accident. The wedding at Cana was a representation of our own weddings, when we became husband and wife, making the choice to no longer live as two, but to be joined as one.

The early time of a marriage is typically a period of newness, excitement and joy. We are given a wonderful gift in finding the one who completes us and exploring that relationship in many ways, sharing happiness as well as pain with the one whom we plan to journey the rest of our lives. But, as any husband or wife reading this knows, over time the relationship can settle into something that can feel less exciting, less new. The “choice wine” we had early in our marriage can be replaced with the “cheaper wine” and, at times, it can feel like our relationship has the taste of just going through the motions.

It is so funny to me how husbands and wives can share with each other their most intimate secrets, work together on all things to keep their family moving along and be close in every way, but not openly talk about their faith with each other. We witness each other at our best and our worst. We see the other at the beginning of the day with bed head and morning breath, no makeup, no hair done, out of the shower with no clothes to hide physical flaws...all things we would expect those close to each other to experience. Yet, we often shy away from baring our souls in talking about our individual relationship with God.

I’ve heard our relationship with God, as spouses, to be a triangle, with the husband at one bottom angle, the wife at the opposite one and God at the top. As we move up the lines of the triangle, individually coming closer to God, we become closer to one another. Try it...draw the imaginary triangle in the air; take your index fingers and point them at the base angles, then move them slowly up to the triangle’s peak, representing husband and wife moving closer to God. Notice how your fingers move more closely to each other as you move up the triangle?

When we add Jesus to the mix, as Mary encouraged Him to do at the wedding, we have a new ability to become closer to each other. When we decide as partners to have God and His Son being at focal point of our relationship, miracles happen. We discover each other in a new way, our love is deeper, our joy is greater and our sorrow is lessened because it is shared. The choice wine we thought was so wonderful during the early part of our marriage has been supplemented with an even better varietal. What we formerly thought was amazing has been replace with the truly awesome!

So, I encourage you, add the secret ingredient to your life together. Invite Jesus in and focus on Him together. Talk openly about your faith; pray together and for each other with open and genuine hearts. Allow Him to give you a taste of that which you could, without Him, not even imagine.