Submission through Power, or, in awe of the I AM

This is a guest post by Archer Garret. Archer Garret is a Patriot, a lover of Liberty and a professed Child of God. He writes “Speculative and Dystopian Fiction” which you can find examples of at his blog: http://acotwf.blogspot.com/ with many free chapters. Careful though, you’re likely to get hooked. :)

I’d like to visit one of my favorite scenes of the Bible, as told through the eyes of John in chapter 18. The scene is a famous one: Jesus prays in the garden, is then betrayed and subsequently arrested. Simple enough, right?

Hardly.

First, let’s see how Jesus struggles with the reality of the cross:

Mark 14:36

36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

John 18 – Jesus Arrested

1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Now, let’s dissect the scriptures a little:

Mark 14:36

36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Some scholars argue that abba is the Aramaic equivalent of “daddy”, while others argue that abba, “asserts not childlike relation to God, but the privileged status of the adult son (not daughter) and heir.” Either way, abba is a term that was specifically preserved in aramaic for a reason of importance, and is reinforced by the fact that it is then followed by father; when the Bible repeats itself, pay attention.

Jesus does not want this cup.

At all.

What is this cup?

It’s the cup of God’s wrath. It’s a cup full of all the sins of the entire world that God cannot even look upon, without being filled with anger. Jesus was not afraid of dying; he knew that God would turn His back on His Son, when Jesus drank that cup on the cross. Jesus had walked in constant communion with the Father for His entire life. The thought of being without God was, by definition, a living Hell.

And yet, he knew that God required Jesus to drink from this cup, so He submitted to the will of the Father.

Total submission to God.

So, now we’ve got the total submission part, but what about the power. Jesus was betrayed and arrested, but where’s the power in that?

Let’s look at John 18:3-9 again:

3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

Let that scene soak in, alright?

Jesus, having just fully submitted himself to the will of the Father, after pouring out His heart, is settled in His resolve. He’s accepted what must be done. Imagine His face.

But the disciples don’t get it, they are just like us – they never get it – until after the fact.

So in comes Judas with a detachment of soldiers in tow. Imagine how the disciples felt: betrayed, angry, terrified? Oh yeah.

But what does Jesus do? Total control of the situation. He steps up and confronts them.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

They drew back and FELL to the GROUND.

What the heck just happened?

I’ll tell you what happened, Jesus just flexed.

In John 18, “I am he,” was translated from the Greek, “ego eimi.”

Ego Eimi.

The Gospel of John is interesting in that ego eimi is used multiple times. Through the various councils, for whatever reason, the divinity that John attributes to Jesus has been reined in somewhat. Why it was done does not matter to me, all I am concerned with is original intent.

Ego Eimi.

Where else is ego eimi used in the Bible? One striking example is in Exodus 3.

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (Aramaic translation). This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘ego eimi (Greek translation) has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

Except, that’s not how you see it in the Bible; you see it like this:

14 God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

I AM.

I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

I AM the Resurrection and the Life.

I AM that I AM.

I. JUST. AM.

…

Whoa. I don’t know about you, but that gives John 18 a whole new meaning. Let’s revisit it:

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I AM,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I AM,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Perhaps I’m the theatrical type, but I can just imagine the raw energy that filled the air as He uttered those words. I can envision the shockwave that pulsated outwards as he said, “ego eimi,” and it Literally. Knocked. Them. To. The. Ground.

I AM!

But Jesus doesn’t stop there, he proceeds to tower over them in the very finite amount of His glory that he allowed to be revealed to them, and continued:

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

They said. PFFT. They muttered. They squeaked. They shielded their eyes and meekly whimpered in terror.

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

I TOLD YOU THAT I AM. Wow. Can you feel the power in His words?

Complete and total control of the situation.

But what happens next?

The man that is getting arrested is making demands of this late night, no-knock warrant, jackboot, Ancient Roman goon squad. And they abide him.

Ego eimi.

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

In all his glory and power before these mere mortals, he is still in total submission to the Father.

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

If you Caiaphas knew, how true those words actually were. But not by his power, would one man die for the people. But by HIS power.

Ego eimi.

Amen.

References:

NIV Bible
James Barr, “Abba isn’t ‘daddy’”, Journal of Theological Studies, 39:28-47.
http://aramaicdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/06/abba-isnt-daddy-traditional-aramaic.html
Mary Rose D’Angelo, “Abba and ‘Father’: Imperial Theology and the Jesus Traditions”, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 111, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 615-616
Tarazi, Fr. Paul. THE NAME OF GOD: ABBA. Word Magazine – Publication of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (May 1980) pp. 5-6. http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/bible/tarazi_name_of_god.htm
Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems From The Greek 365 Greek Word Studies For Every Day Of The Year To Sharpen Your Understanding Of God’s Word 2003 page 219
Mary Healy, Gospel of Mark, The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture 2008, page 131: “…the episode is in the middle statement: “It is I” (ego eimi), which can also be translated “I AM,” the divine name …”
The I AM sayings: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rsposse/iamintro.htm

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Todd - Admin, Reply

Prepper Prison

Are you living in a Prepper Prison? That might mean different things for different people. For some it might mean that they are caught in a cycle of always thinking about the apocalypse. Others might feel they need to prepare, but can’t for a lack of funds or other resources. Still yet, other might be plagued by seeing “preparedness” in every bit of life: at work, in the store, while watching TV, reading a book, etc… But a real common prepper’s prison might be the one that you are in all by yourself. You know you need to prepare, you have an urgency, but those close to you don’t see it!

When you are in this “prison,” it is easy to feel alone. There is some support and understanding from fellow preppers that you can connect with via the internet, but you still long for those close to you to share in the preparedness.

For those preppers that live a life of faith or spirituality, the same feeling might arise when you feel that God has turned a deaf ear to you and doesn’t care about your own personal situation. In fact, many believers might feel that as things start to go downhill economically.

Today, I listened to a podcast by one of my favorite ministers, Andy Stanley. As a minister myself, I know that I need to purposefully reflect on other things than just preparedness. Don’t get me wrong, with the Prepper Website, I’m eating and breathing the stuff all the time. But if that is the only thing that I’m about, I can lose track of other important things in my life. So, I listen to leadership, spiritual, educational and other type podcasts to counteract the preparedness stuff in my life.

The podcast I listened to was called, When God Is Inattentive. Andy uses the story of John the Baptist to share how God is not punishing or leaving you to suffer when things aren’t going well for you. Sometimes my mind makes mental jumps that after a while, I don’t know how I got to where I stop. But the link to John the Baptist in prison and preppers in prison was made. Again, sometimes we can feel all alone. Ultimately, just like John, you’re not.

I hope you take 30 minutes to listen to this podcast.

Feel free to let me know what you think about the podcast.

Peace,
Todd

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Todd - Admin, 1 comment

Weddings When The SHTF – Part 3

If there is ever a collapse, things are going to be crazy for a while. But after things get settled and life gets back to some sort of normalcy, people are going to want to celebrate those special occasions in life. One special occasion will be weddings. Since weddings don’t happen everyday, I recently wrote about the things that you should consider in regards to coordinating a wedding. I also wrote about the Order of the Service or Wedding Protocol.

This post will provide you with an actual wedding ceremony that you could use.

Wedding Ceremony by Todd Sepulveda

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the wedding ceremony of _______ and ______. Let us join together to offer our best wishes and prayers as they come together to become husband and wife.

Who presents this woman to be married to this man?

ADDRESS

Every day has the potential to bring something new and exciting. In the morning we wake, and although we might be sleepy eyed, we can look at the day before us and know that our lives will be molded by the way we conduct ourselves, or molded for us as we allow the world around us to dictate who and what we should be. We end the day in the evening. What was that day is over, but it has marked us and hopefully it was good.

But what if we didn’t approach the day alone? What if we can know that as we move forward, from the rising of the sun in the morning to the setting in the evening, we journey through this life together with someone special? That someone can encourage us to be our best, to face life with everything we have to offer. That someone can speak into our life and help us see the good around us. That person would be there during times of sorrow and hardship, and be a rock to steady us when uncertainty brought unease.

This is what today is about. It is about becoming one with that special person, someone for life.

SCRIPTURE READING

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

QUESTION OF INTENT

As you stand here before family and friends, _____ do you promise to take _____ as your wedded wife/husband? (I do.)

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we ask for Your hand to guide _______ and ________ as they come together as husband and wife. Grant them wisdom, faith and love as they seek to walk together. Help them during time of struggle and let them know that they can always depend on You to be there. Place Your people in their lives to encourage them and befriend them on their journey. Grant them peace as they endeavor to build this family.

CONSECRATION

A wedding is a celebration of love and commitment. It brings together a man and a woman who have chosen to live the rest of their days together as husband and wife. The wedding is for today, but your marriage is forever.

After the last song has been played and the last candle has been blown out. After the last picture has been taken and the last guest has left and their best wishes for a happy life together have been expressed, you will start your marriage.

Your marriage together is a new journey that you will embark on. All of the experiences and circumstances that you have known as a single person, will only enhance the new experiences that you will face together. Remember this one important piece of advice; your marriage will thrive when you accept and understand the physical, emotional and spiritual union you are about to enter into.

When you accept this physical union, you agree to be there for each other. Your presence is important. Throughout life, opportunities will come, but the most important thing to remember is that nothing takes the place of your presence and time that you offer to each other. When both of these come together, a relationship can grow strong and trust can be established.

You need to be there for each other emotionally. This has less to do with the physical aspect of expressing emotions as to the importance of understanding how important the kindness, love, happiness and feelings of well-being each of you have for each other is expressed in real and everyday life.

Lastly, there is more to life than just the physical and emotional side of living. There is someone bigger than who we are and who is willing to be there in the good and bad times. God will always be there to offer you strength, peace and love when you need it. Don’t deny this aspect of your marriage, it is just as important as the rest.

Remember, everything worthy in life is worth working towards. Your wedding day is easy. Your marriage will require work, understanding, forgiveness, love, patience and acceptance.

RINGS

Rings are a symbolic representation of the commitment that you are making towards each other. Every time you look down to see this ring on your finger, it should remind you of this commitment. It should also remind you of the love and happiness you enjoy. And it should remind you that this commitment is for life.

I ________ (groom/bride) take you ________ (bride/groom) to be my wife/husband. I commit to you today to ever hold you close to my heart. I promise to love you, honor and cherish you, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health for all the days of my life. With this ring, I thee wed.

UNITY CANDLE (optional)

In this moment, as you have professed your love and commitment to each other, I invite you to light the candle of unity which symbolizes two lives that have become one.

SAND CEREMONY (optional)

From this day forward, you are no longer two individual people. The life that you lead from here on will forever be intertwined with the other. Today, this is symbolized by two containers of sand. One represents you ______, your life before today and at this very moment. The other represents you _______, and your life before today and at this very moment. As you pour the individual containers of sand into the bigger marriage container, it serves as a representation that your lives will always encompass the other. The individual containers of sand will no longer remain.

SCRIPTURE

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

APACHE BLESSING

Now you will feel no rain, For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now each of you will feel no cold, For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no loneliness for you,For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,But there is one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your togetherness
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

PRONOUNCEMENT

________ and _______ have chosen each other and proclaimed their love and commitment to each other in the presence of family and friends. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the state of Texas and with God’s Word, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Those whom God has put together, let no man put asunder.

You may kiss the bride.

It is my honor to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. ________ _________.

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Todd - Admin, Reply

Weddings When the SHTF – Part 2

Last week I posted the first part of Weddings When The SHTF. In the article, I tried to answer some questions about what weddings would look like if:

the county office is closed and marriage licenses aren’t being issued?
you can’t find a minister to perform the ceremony?
the bride and groom want something more than just “well now you’re married?”
you were responsible for putting it together?

In this post, I would like to give the format or “Order of Service” for a wedding ceremony. This actually comes up pretty often when I meet with couples and they don’t have a wedding coordinator. There is a lot to think about when putting the particulars of what goes where and who does what.

Before I start, I would like to mention that I have done MANY weddings and every wedding is a little bit different. It really boils down to preference and what the bride…IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BRIDE…has in mind. Again, I’m sure there is some formal Wedding Protocol somewhere, couched in hundreds of years of tradition…but I have never seen it. And I have worked with a lot of top-notch wedding coordinators and wedding facilities….they all do it a little different.

Wedding Protocol When the SHTF (with commentary)

Guests Arrive – Music is playing (live or recorded). Ushers ask guests who are arriving if they are on the groom or bride’s side. Ushers escort women to their seats as the men walk behind. Ushers continue to seat guests until family is ready to be seated.

Wedding Party Enters – There is usually a music/song shift. Ushers might ask anyone who is standing to have a seat.

Groom’s Grandparents Enter and are seated
Bride’s Grandparents Enter and are seated
Groom’s Parents Enter*
Bride’s Mother Enters* escorted by usher or someone in the wedding party
Minister, Groom, Best Man Enter
- Variations:
- Minister & Groom walks in side by side or minister in front (one arm’s length apart)
- Minister & All Groomsmen walk in single file (one arm’s length apart)
- If possible, Groomsmen meet Bridesmaids ½ way down the aisle.
- Bride Maids enter (furthest away from the bride first – walks to the front and then out to the left)
- Maid of Honor Enters
- Ring Bearer Enters**
- Flower Girl Enters
- Bride Enters escorted by Dad – Minister asks guest to stand. Father & bride stop right after the first aisle (depending on how much room there is between the first aisle and where the groom is standing).
- Music stops

Wedding Ceremony Begins

Minister welcomes guests and asks them to be seated
Opening line(s) of Ceremony – “We are gathered here…”
“Who presents this woman to be married to this man?”
Father answers “I do.”
Groom moves forward and shakes father’s hand
Father places bride’s hand in the groom’s hand and sits down.
Bride and Groom move forward to be in front of the minister.
- I normally ask the Bride and Groom to face each other. That way the guests get to see the profile of the couple vs. having to look at the back of their head.

Address by the minister

Prayer by the minister

Question of Intent

The question of intent signifies the bride and grooms desire to move forward with the rest of the ceremony: rings and vows.

Reading

Can be anything (poem or Scripture) selected by the minister or couple.
The reading can b read by the minister or someone chosen by the couple

Rings

**If a ring bearer is used, the ring bearer should never hold the rings. Many rings have been lost by young ring bearers who weren’t paying attention and loose knots.
Instead, the best man should hold the bride’s ring and the maid of honor should hold the groom’s ring.
The minister will ask for the rings and hold them as the ring ceremony proceeds.
The minister gives the ring to the groom. The groom should place the wedding band ½ way on the bride’s ring finger and look at her as the minister gives the 3-4 words of the vows to say/repeat. The tendency is for the groom/bride to look at the minister since the minister is giving them the words to say, almost no one memorizes their vows anymore.

*Unity Candle or Sand Ceremony (optional)

If a Unity Candle is used, the mother of the bride and groom light one for their child.
During the ceremony, the bride and groom use the smaller, tapered candle to light the Unity candle, at the same time, then blow out the tapered candle and set it back in the candle holder
It is a good idea to have a small votive candle or a lighter somewhere nearby in case wind blows out the tapered candles.
If the Sand Ceremony is used, the mothers could walk down the smaller container of sand and place it on the table where the family container will be held. This is not necessary. Many times the individual containers are already placed on the table before the wedding ceremony begins.

Blessing

There are many that are used here. You could use the Apache Blessing, the Irish Blessing or even just the traditional blessing from the Bible, Numbers 6:23-25

Pronouncement

Introduction of the Couple

Recession

As you can see, there is a lot more to the wedding ceremony than just getting together and getting married. You don’t have to do all this, but again, if you want something traditional and you need to know what to do, you now have an idea. Remember, it’s all about the BRIDE!

This is part 2 of a 3 part series. Sign up for email updates or grab the rss feed. Feel free to comment and leave your thoughts too!

Peace,
Todd

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Todd - Admin, 1 comment

Weddings When the SHTF

One of the fun things that I do in my “spare” time is officiate weddings. I don’t know how or why my mind makes the mental jumps that it does, but I sometimes think about what weddings might look like when the poop hits the fan.

Now, some of you might be wondering, “What in the heck Todd? You just have a wedding and that’s all.” It might not be as easy as that though. There are a lot of things to consider like:

What if the county office is closed and marriage licenses aren’t being issued?
What if you can’t find a minister to perform the ceremony?
What is if the bride and groom want something more than just “well now you’re married?”
What would a ceremony look like if you were responsible for putting it together?

Hopefully I can answer some of these questions and provide a little insight so that when all society has fallen apart, we can still hold on to some sort of normalcy and celebration of those special times in our lives. And, hopefully, I can provide some insight to anyone who is preparing for a wedding BEFORE the SHTF.

The Marriage License – If things have really gone south and government isn’t active, you won’t be able to get a marriage license from the county clerk’s office. In the past, before county records, records of marriages were kept at the local church or even within the family.

It might be a good idea to have one of those big family Bibles and write down the important dates on the inside cover or notes section. Some Bibles even have sections where you can write down specific dates. Wedding dates, birth dates, death dates, or any important event can all be written in one Family Bible. Of course, you will need to have a way to tell the date or something as simple as “Fall of 2015” or “Summer of 2025” can be written down.

The Officiant – This might be harder to deal with. If you are in a community and there is a minister around, you can ask him for his services.* However, if there isn’t a minister around, someone will have to take on that role.

The most likely person to fill in for this role is someone in leadership. It could be the leader of the group or community, the head of the family or even the most “spiritual” person that you can find. The issue here is that whomever does it, knows the elements of the ceremony and what to say and in which order. Remember, we are doing this for the memories AND….. for the bride….it’s always for the BRIDE.

The Setting – I’ve done weddings in facilities specifically built for weddings all the way up to five-star hotels, backyards and even foyers of homes. Of course, you would want to pick the nicest setting available. This might be next to a river or pond, in the garden, under a big tree, barn or even in a big empty field.

Guests could stand, sit on chairs that they bring, hay bales or even the ground. For a traditional style wedding, there should be two sides. The groom’s side sits on the right and the bride’s side sits on the left. This might be all a mute point. But if there is enough for both sides to make this happen, it would be a nice touch.

The Ceremony – Every ceremony is similar, or at least has the same elements. Each ceremony should include:

An Introduction – can be as simple as “Welcome this evening to the wedding of ______ and _____.
Address – the officiant should prepare a short address or message about marriage. If this is a spiritual wedding, the officiant should include Scriptures, etc… If this isn’t a spiritual wedding ceremony, then the officiant could keep the address based on love, etc…
Question of Intent – At this point in the ceremony, the couple answers the “Question of Intent.” They intend on moving forward with the wedding.
Ring Ceremony – This is where the exchange of rings happens.
Unity Candle or Sand Ceremony – I’m putting this here because I do it often. However, in the reality of the SHTF, supplies for this might not be around. Both of these ceremonies are intended to be a visual representation of the marriage union for the guests and the couple getting married.
Benediction/Blessing – I’ve used different things here. You can use Numbers 6:24-26. You can also use the Irish Blessing or the Apache Prayer. You can find both easily on the internet.
Pronouncement – You know…I now pronounce you man and wife…
The Kiss – As the officiant, stand back! Some couples get crazy!!!!!
The Announcement – “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to introduce Mr. & Mrs. _______.”

Again, in a SHTF scenario, celebrating those special times will be important. Those moments don’t have to be dark and depressing. An a marriage is great time of celebration!

This is part 1 of a 3 part series. Sign up for email updates or grab the rss feed. Feel free to comment and leave your thoughts too!

Peace,
Todd