The Long Path On A Clear Day

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Over the past two days, I've had the great fortune to marry two wonderful couples, Hyeyoung and Bruce, and Ellie and Olman who are pictured here.  

What an amazing act of divine foolishness this vow to walk the long path together is.  And how utterly grateful I am for this magnificent foolishness to be expressing in these times that are for so many in our world dark and broken.   In each new generations eyes an utterly unique and precious expression of the great dance of Yin and Yang,  and of the dance beyond Yin and Yang.

And for me, what a joy to be able to be a part of the dance in this particular way.   Some in the Buddhist tradition feel that the Dharma has no use for ordained clergy, and I respectfully disagree.  To be sure there have been examples of priestly misconduct, and at times a false sense of entitlement or status, and a corrective is demanded.  But the moments of birth and reaching adulthood and marriage and death are deep and transformative, and need to be well met.  And for many, that meeting is most authentic when it involves an ordained priest who is there to help shape and hold the space within which these mysteries unfold, to bear witness along with the lineage and community to their occurrence, and to serve those who are the primary dancers of the moment in whatever way they can.

And then to step back and let go.

Big time.

Interesting to me that in both of these unions one of the couple was from another culture,  Hyeyoung from Korea and Olman from Costa Rica, both throwing in their lot with Buddhist leaning Midwesterners.  Times certainly have changed, and in a good way.

As it happens, Ellie and Olman are also musical friends and colleagues and we have shared many performances together including the Zen Arts Ensemble performances here and the Toledo Museum of Art, and their wedding was embedded in the Vocal Jazz Camp with the New York Voices at Bowling Green State University. The wedding band was 'killin' as we jazz cats say... 


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