Mandee's Wedding - the rock, prayers set in stone

Mandee and Wes's wedding was on Oct 22, 2011 -- here's a little something they shared with their guests on the back of the menu....

the rock

prayers set in stone

There is a spring that comes up out of the earth, high on the mountain, behind the cabin where I’ve lived for twelve years.  The water rushes down and forms a creek that gathers in pools and waterfalls as the mountain descends.  There is a trail that follows the creek bed up to the falls and then on to the top of the mountain.  I have followed that trail in every season. 

A few years ago, I began the practice of picking up a rock at the bottom of the trail, praying a prayer, and carrying my rock up to the place where the trail crosses the creek.  Somehow in the journey up the path, the rock became the tangible prayer that was spoken in breaths, yet held in my hand.  I would leave my rock, my prayer, at the creek and walk back down the mountain.  Over the years, I have gathered a growing pile of prayers and left them resting beside the creek.  That place, where my prayers lay, where the water comes out of the earth, where the sun shifts through the trees, is a holy place.  The Celtics have a tradition and belief of “thin places” - places and times where the veil that separates heaven and earth is worn thin.  Thin places are gifts that we stumble upon - holy moments that shape us.  My prayer pile on the trail by the creek is one of those places for me.

After Wes and I started dating, we spent lots of time hiking and running through these mountains together.  We would pick up rocks at the bottom of the trail and carry them to the creek.  My pile of prayers soon became our pile of prayers.  In July of this year, Wes asked me to go for a quick hike with him.  We picked up our rocks and started up the mountain.  When we got to the creek and laid our prayers down, Wes proposed - there in that holy and special place. 

Thin places are not only actual places, but they are places in time.  Our prayer is that our wedding day is one of those thin places. 

This rock was carried out of the mountain for you.  This rock is our prayer of blessings and peace for you - take this home and when you see it, remember today - a day when the veil between heaven and earth is worn thin.....