Few pictures of joy and marriage capture my heart as perfectly as J. R. R. Tolkien’s description of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry setting the table for Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam:
Then Tom and Goldberry set the table; and the hobbits sat half in wonder and half in laughter: so fair was the grace of Goldberry and so merry and odd the caperings of Tom. Yet in some fashion they seemed to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other, in and out of the room, and round about the table; and with great speed food and vessels and lights were set in order.
As I look over my 35 years of marriage, I see that God has woven two lives into a single dance. Teckla and I have been woven together in way that has kept us from hindering the other. We complement and enrich one another. We are one.
Of course like Tom and Goldberry, Teckla and I are wildly in love with each other. But it is significant that the picture of grace and oneness Tolkien offers is in the context of Tom and Goldberry serving others. At our wedding, and again and again after it, Teckla and I committed ourselves to serving God and others. I think our commitment to serve is why our lives have become a single dance with Teckla providing the grace, and I the odd caperings.
