Reasons Why I Liked the Royal Wedding

I'm not a fan of pop culture.  I don't read fiction, don't watch TV, don't go to movies, and don't listen to "popular" music.  Pretty much if the crowd is headed one way, I'm headed the other.  However, I must say that I was struck by the beauty and pageantry of the royal wedding yesterday. 

I was taken aback by the fact that I was touched by it, and in the past 24 hours I've been trying to dissect why.  I've settled on a couple of things:

• In an environment of deep political division, multiple and endless wars, an economy teetering on the brink, hundreds dead in the south, gas and food prices skyrocketing, and just about every other piece of apocalyptic news one could imagine, comes this genteel and sweet celebration.  What a breath of sweet, fresh air in an otherwise caustic news environment.
• I'm a fan of marriage.  I know they don't all work out (been there, done that, got the T-shirt to prove it).  But when it works, it's a wonderful God-given gift.  Call me old fashioned, but I still believe in it, and the good that it can do. 
• For a society like the UK where the marriage rates of adults have plummeted to their lowest levels since records were kept in 1862, I like the tone this celebration sets.  
• Lastly, I just like weddings.  I like the celebration and the formal, public reorganization of what a marriage means.  I like putting on the suit and dancing with my wife.  I like being around my family.  And when I consider that I'm at an age now where I attend far more funerals than weddings, I'm spiritually refreshed by the celebration of life that weddings provide. 

So, well done, William and Kate.  Thanks for allowing us to celebrate along with you, and  for the opportunity to remember that life in 2011 doesn't have to be an endless string of bad news, pain, and suffering.