With well over 8 million viewings on YouTube, most have been exposed to the video of the dancing procession at the wedding of Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson. The exuberance of the dance is truly contagious and is the main reason why this video went viral (some puns are too easy).
Maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I am uncomfortable with this entrance to a church wedding. I do note that this was not a Catholic church and am willing to cut a lot of slack, but I am a believer that certain places and certain events demand a greater degree of reverence.
This dance would have been wonderful at a reception, but had it taken place in a Catholic church where we believe that Christ is truly present in eucharist reserved in the tabernacle, and as prelude to the sacrament of a couple entering into a lifetime commitment of marriage, I would have been greatly upset.
After reading many comments regarding this video, I recognize this places me in the great minority but -- stealing from the Byrds, who stole from Ecclesiastes -- there is a time and a place for everything. A sacramental wedding at a Catholic church is neither the time or place.
This distinction is also innately recognized at a New Orleans jazz funeral. The mourners there also dance in celebration, but not at the solemn ceremonies at church nor at the graveside, but as they go forth from those places.
Alas, I fear that this wedding procession will now be copied incessantly and I am going to irritate some bridezilla when I tell her it will not be allowed if I am involved in the ceremony. Then again, in those instances in which I am involved with marriage preparation, I try to explain that our concern is not for the wedding, but for the marriage.
2 years ago
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