Reflection on John 2

Of course, marriage is a miracle.
like every tender, trusting, tricky
relationship between people

It’s a miracle, given the stress
from wedding planner to dementia,
that we ever hold on
to love or respect
or the ability to cope
with each other’s relatives.

The truth in John’s pragmatic descent
from philosophical heights
to pre-toast nightmare,
is that in every relationship,
we run out of something –

patience or courage or energy,
health or money or parenting skills,
physical attractiveness
or the ability to appreciate humor,
financial trustworthiness
or the willingness to make breakfast in bed,
watch boring television,
drive aunt Susan to the tenth doctor,
accompany the kid to traffic court …
or just joy.

Everybody runs out of something, sometime.
And then we recognize
Word-boy is in the miracle business.
Jesus can transform things. –
water into wine,
wine into poured-out love,
our days of fear, loss, failure, anxiety,
into a morning more healthy, more whole.

So the first miracle
is not walking on water
but making it a party,
and here comes the pun …
it works because we party-cipate.

That couple owned the clay jars;
those attendants poured;
the steward did the taste-test
which was probably not so much
swirl and sniff
as supermarket sample.

No hocus-pocus-vintage in the smokus –
Jesus transformed something
that was already there –
something that hadn’t run out —
like love or respect or caring,
memories of counting new baby toes
or holding one another’s hands
side by side at a grave —
into enough, into abundance.

Of course, they did run out of water
for getting clean –
and had to settle for welcoming
all those dirty guests,

but that’s where we come in –
for we’re the wedding crashers here.