It's a funny thing when you finally have an excuse to get all of

The words of Brooke Baldwin—“It’s a funny thing when you finally have an excuse to get all of your favorite people from all corners of the globe together in one room for my wedding. Other than saying ‘I do’ to my hunky Englishman, that is the thing I am most excited about!”—are spoken with joy, yet they conceal within them a profound truth. A wedding is not only the union of two souls, but also the rare gathering of many lives, converging for a single moment in time. In that fleeting union of family and friends, there is a glimpse of eternity, for love draws the scattered together and binds them into one circle.

The mention of loved ones from the corners of the globe speaks to the nature of human life, ever scattered by duty, destiny, and distance. Friends are separated by oceans, kin divided by cities, companions torn by time. Yet the power of marriage is such that it calls them back, as though love itself were a beacon drawing every wandering soul home. The feast becomes not only a celebration of the couple, but also a rare reunion of community.

History gives us the tale of the Olympic Games of ancient Greece, when warring city-states laid down arms and travelers from afar converged upon Olympia. They came for contest and for glory, but also for reunion, for shared memory, for the reaffirmation of kinship beyond borders. So too with Baldwin’s wedding: though it is her own covenant, it becomes an arena where friendships and kinships are celebrated as fervently as vows.

The phrase, “other than saying ‘I do,’” reminds us that even as the heart burns brightest for the beloved, the joy of community cannot be forgotten. The Englishman may be the star to whom she pledges her life, but the constellation of friends and family forms the sky beneath which the vow is made. Without them, the moment is smaller; with them, it becomes vast, a tapestry stitched of countless lives.

Therefore, O listener, take this lesson: treasure the gatherings that love provides, for they are few in number and precious beyond measure. A wedding is not only the birth of a new union, but the fleeting miracle of drawing scattered souls into one embrace. Remember, the bond of love is not confined to two—it spills outward, like light from a flame, illuminating all who draw near. In such moments, we glimpse the true wealth of life: not possessions, not glory, but the presence of those we love.