He Didn’t Even Speak

Wow.

My little sister’s getting married today. Yesterday we spent some time together doing last minute preparations for her wedding. Last night we met at the church for the rehearsal and encountered the most disturbing situation.

Ofcourse everyone was late, except me. I have this thing about being late. I was the first to arrive so I wandered around the empty church looking at everything, playing with the microphones and pretending to give a sermon. When my Mama got there we walked to BK to get a burger and when we got back the other bridesmaid and flower girl and ring bearer were there. None of the groom’s family showed up for the rehearsal. I found that a bit odd.

But what was even more odd was the fact that the pastor stepped in quietly, didn’t introduce himself to anyone and didn’t say a word until it was his time to speak during the rehearsal. He didn’t even invite any of us to church on Sunday. He didn’t even give my sister or her fiance a hug before he left. His demeanor was more business-like than anything. I felt so uncomfortable. As if I was unwelcome there.

The rehearsal went fine. Me and the other bridesmaid joked that we would do the snap dance on our way out of the church. My hair came out alright. It’s not bright or anything but it’s nice.

After the rehearsal I came home and I all I could think about was how her pastor barely spoke to her and how he didn’t even introduce himself to our parents or any of the other new faces he saw. It would have been the perfect opportunity to win a few souls for Christ, assuming we hadn’t been won already, but he didn’t even seem interested.

How can you be a pastor and not be interested in meeting the family of two members of your congregation? I guess since it wasn’t Sunday he was “off” and couldn’t be bothered with making us feel welcome in his establishment.

I called my sister late last night and spoke to her about it and she said that he is very much like that. Even during their marriage counseling sessions he was stand offish. For some reason he runs his church like a business and is very impersonal with her and her fiance. I asked her why he acts that way and she said she didn’t know. She hadn’t paid the fee for his matrimony services yet and she asked him if she could pay after the ceremony and he seemed upset.

This hurts me so much.

Now I wonder about their spiritual state because my sister is very religious and is one of those people who constantly says, “God told me to…” But how can she be totally in tune if she has a spiritual leader who is not interested in connecting with her as a father? Church is not supposed to be a business. You don’t marry someone just because they paid you.

I believe the spiritual well being of any church going Christian is a direct reflection of the spiritual leadership that they are under. We learn from our leaders and fashion our lifestyles from their example.

I am extremely dissappointed with him and I think that I will probably say something about it to him today. I’m trying not to let it get me down but I realize that you can depend on no man to love and nurture you.

My little sister’s getting married.

As headstrong as she is, she will make a way. No matter what comes, she will handle it. I made sure to tell her that I believed in her ability to make the right decision.

Let me go pick up these shoes and accessories.