Much more than 1000 words. It can be what provokes peace, contemplation and a deepening of love. Take a gander:

After seeing this picture of me from my friend’s wedding last week, I have to say one thing:

I really love that woman I married.

And I know of her great love and sacrifice that she makes each and every day. Marriage is about waking up each day and being content in your commitment and if you think that’s easy–then you’re nuts.

We all can be grumpy and difficult and pig-headed and simply nasty sometimes. I know I can be that way and I know there have been times in my marriage that I have been particularly all of these things towards my wife.

And she has become perfect in being able to forgive me. And I her.

I think that’s really what we mean when we talk about marriage being a sacrament. We are given to each other freely. And that gift, blessed by God and God’s people, when we nurture it and are mindful of it, is all that we will ever need. We are more than enough for each other and yet, without God at the center of our marriage, prodding us to love–especially when it is all too easy to become un-loving and concerned about our own selfish ways–we can settle for being that “clanging gong” that St Paul writes about when we have not love.

1000 words could never sum up all that is held together in this one photo. For here I see my love, which is more than contentment, more than commitment, more than kindness.

It is my everything. And it is more than enough.

Thanks to Alnie Figueroa for capturing this photo.