Yes, I admit it! I watched parts of the Royal Wedding on the weekend.
I wasn’t planning to, but then the thought of showing my 5-year-old a non-white princess got the better of me at 8pm. And I heard the commotion about the sermon by “the Black preacher”, so I had to watch.
I was inspired by Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon about love (you can watch it here – it starts at minute 24:33). He started by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King: “We must discover the power of love. The redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world.”
Hmmm, I thought. And I leaned in a little more.
A pink rose with the word love spelled out in a letter bead bracelet.
Groundbreaking things…
And then as I continued to watch, a thought dawned as I felt the earth move a little. There were so many groundbreaking things. So many firsts in that wedding:
A biracial bride in the British Monarchy.
A Black mother of the bride at a British Royal wedding.
A Black preacher in that church.
A Black preacher, preaching to an audience that included the British Royal Family.
A Black choir in that church and at a British Royal Wedding.
And maybe – although I’m not sure about this one – Black guests at a British Royal wedding.
The reason behind the firsts…
But it wasn’t the firsts that got me, rather it was why they were present. It dawned on me that all of these firsts arrived because Harry met Meghan and they fell in love and decided to get married. And then these things came to be because they were determined to be themselves out loud – and to support each other in that (I’m guessing here).
It wasn’t a workshop, a presentation, or a mandated anything. I’m guessing it was a series of decisions made to honour what felt meaningful. We don’t know the process, but we saw the outcome. Groundbreaking. Not intentionally. Not to shake things and people up. Not to make a point. But because it was an important day for them. Because it felt right. Because it was meaningful to them (or maybe specifically to Meghan).
For sure it came to pass because of many things (and people) that have gone before to pave the way. I’m not discounting any of that. But what I saw in this wedding that was so powerful to me was Meghan’s courage to be who she is, and therefore to include what mattered to her to make that wedding meaningful.
It wasn’t about change, likely. I’m guessing it wasn’t about making a statement. But it created change. The world will never be the same. We saw something new. We can’t go back without noticing we are retreating.
The power of being who we are.
This is what has stayed with me; continues to stay with me about the wedding. A soft whisper added to the many others:
Magic happens when we show up, fully, as ourselves.
And when things are meaningful to us, love is present. You can feel the difference.
If we ask for permission, if we wait for others to be ok with it and to be comfortable, if we look for reasons it’s not ok, if we focus on the reactions of others, or even our fear of what could be…we don’t show up.
Our light gets a little dimmer.
And we don’t change the world.
Meghan and Harry created a crack to let the light in.
Bishop Michael Curry reminded us that there is power in love.
He’s right…look what happened on Saturday because of it.
See more.
Yes, there were black guests. Oprah was there as well as one of the Williams sisters. I’m not a tennis person so I don’t know which one.