Lancelot's Ordination

I went to Lancelot's ordination.  In the whole grand scheme it may seem not that earthshaking an event; to Lance, his wife, his family, and we who love him, it was major.

For one of certain sensibilities, being ordained is akin to being knighted.  One makes a decision, undertakes a quest (like acquiring a degree in theology, or taking an internship), purifies oneself or allows oneself to be purified (Eustace Scrubb), submits oneself for consideration and examination, and determines to intentionally set aside one's desires, ambitions, and personal goals, not to abandon them but to subjugate them, to determine to subjugate them again and again, daily, in perpetuity, for the greater good of service to King and Country.  Once prayed over and knighted by the King, or the Kingdom elders, the knight/pastor goes forth on the King's business, declaring and elucidating the King's edicts, slaying dragons, righting wrongs, setting the errant on the straight and narrow, rescuing those in distress, comforting the afflicted, interceding before the King on behalf of the downtrodden, and doing it all at the King's discretion and for His pleasure. The knight's whole purpose, his whole life, is to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before his King.

Only a fool would undertake this lightly.

I do not know intimately the young man under discussion here, but I know his reputation among men of honour and it is sterling; he is no fool.

Personally, I like pageantry, liturgy, and ritual.  I like orchestrating things and injecting meaningful little asides.  I'm a control freak and drive people around the bend!  But sometimes, sometimes, simple is better.

Weddings are about pomp and pageantry, but marriage, at its most elemental and ultimately meaningful, is only a man saying "I will protect you and serve you all my life" and a woman saying "I will follow you and honor you all my life".  That's it.  And that's more important than the flowers, music, rings, bridesmaids, or any other trappings.  A man and a woman before God saying "I will".

So in that spirit, the true spirit of the meaning and soul of the thing, Lancelot's ordination was perfect.  The men who are responsible for him, who have authority over him, kneeling in prayer and dedicating him, his life, his family, his future, to service, whatever that may look like.  That's the real thing.  No pomp required.