There is an order to things that can be discovered if we look at the world around us. Chemistry conspires to make life possible. The way that two hydrogen atoms bind with one of oxygen causes the formation of a clear liquid, water. And just as hydrogen is the root from which all the other elements in the universe are formed, so too water is the substance that sustains all life on earth. The Book of Genesis tells us that God make everything. The Spirit, it tells us, moved over the face of the chaos water and separated the water from the dry land. Then light and life of all kinds appeared like tender shoots unfurling in early spring.

Above the water, earth, birds, plants and animals is a thin layer of gases that cling to our planet because the gravity is just right. Strong enough to hold an atmosphere in place, weak enough that we could evolve from moving on all fours to walking upright.

Our atmosphere is not only rich in oxygen,

but relatively free from the presence of poisonous gases like chlorine or ammonia, unlike some of our planetary neighbors.

The earth itself is placed at just the right distance from the sun that for much of the year, around most of the globe, the waters remain fluid - able to be drunk to slake the needs of all that thirsts and to serve as a highway for all of the fish in the sea. What are the odds that all of this could have just happened by chance?

About the same as standing on this fragile earth, our island home, aiming a pistol at the edge of the known universe, and firing at, and hitting, a target the size of a dime.

In other words, from the very beginning, a place was being consciously prepared for us. God puts it all into our hands and makes us the stewards of his creation. God the lover of souls, bids us love Him, each other and the priceless gift of his creation. God made us in His image, male and female. Placed in a world that is prone to life. And primed us to fall in love.

But if love would be enduring, it must be more than the chemistry within us that draws us close. Love must deepen to more than the capacity to feel passion, for that will fade over time. Nor do the garments, the flowers or even the words spoken over us at a wedding ceremony weld us together sufficiently to keep us as year adds on to year.

It is a strong and conscious commitment to a covenantal relationship that keeps married people married. It is the presence of God continuously invited into the couple's life that makes a long-term marriage possible.

A wedding license is just a legal contract, the state's permission to assume joint ownership of property, shared rights and responsibilities. Not very warm and fuzzy, nor is there even a glimmer of divine promise within it.

But the blessing of the church, given within the sacrament of marriage, is rooted in the Covenant - a promise, made before God and everyone, that is meant to cement and uphold the loving intentions expressed by the couple. The model fro marriage is God's promise to humankind - "I will be with you, always."

Diego and Paige, marriage is a blessing. It is also hard work. You will need all the help you can get. I am not singling you out every married couple knows this is so. I have been married 34 years, so I know the truth of what I am saying.

OK, a pop quiz for the married people -How many of you have ever had a fight? How many of you have either wept because of your spouse or made them weep in the midst of a disagreement or misunderstanding? How many have ever not spoken to one another because you were so angry you feared you would lose your temper all over again and do something you would regret? This is just the short list, I'll leave the rest for the final exam.

The point is that we need every blessing we can get. We need the help of others who have walked this road before us. And we need to decide that we are in this for the long haul. Marriage is hard work.

An older man once passed on great wisdom to me when I was young in my marriage and still looking for simple ways to solve the complex nature of real relationships. He told me that he and his wife had agreed that they would never go to bed angry with each other. "Yes," he said, "it has been a wonderful discipline, and the longest we were ever up was four straight days".

There are no silver bullets, no quick sure-fire phrases, just the work of learning to be compassionate and kind. How powerful it can be to not seek one's own way, but to be patient with one another's faults and weaknesses and to forgive not just the small missteps but even the big and painful mistakes. Love, the way God means it to be, will cover all things, if a couple decides to let God be the guiding star in their journies through darkness and light.

You will be led by something, choose wisely. Neither wealth, nor power, nor position - in the end - are anything. Passion is a powerful force meant by God for a couple's delight but when not contained by conscious choice within the bounds of marriage, passion is like a loose canon that will blow a hole in your boat and sink the lives of others in the process.

You are here in a church making promises, Diego and Paige. We are standing with you. And God is over all. Just as the lessons you chose for today speak to your current understanding of marriage and are meant to give you encouragement, so too the Sunday lessons at the church of your choice will add to your growing wisdom and give you strength that will help sustain your marriage. Keep coming back. And may God richly bless you all the days of your lives.