Written by I-don't-know-who, and glowing among the line-up of Maura O'Connell's 1995 record, Stories, "Love Divine" has been, since I first heard it, one of my most favored songs about love. I've been known to play it over a dozen times in a row, sap that I am. James Taylor sweetly slides alongside Maura in close, cozy harmony, effortlessly offering the mingling of two simply rich, perfectly matched voices. I love this song. I really wish I could figure out how to post it here for you, but instead I'll have to merely direct you to iTunes. Go have a listen, spend that little 99 cents and be blessed. It's been off the front burner for a while now, just as most of my time-tested, favorite songs do a dance of presence and absence in and out of my current good graces. Its melody and words, however, have crept up and accompanied my pondering of the love story of two specific people. Pete and Jennifer became one yesterday in the sweetest and loveliest of ceremonies. Noontime light streamed in through the opalescent stained glass, pint-sized pirates strolled down the aisle as did several pretty little gals, one especially-special in her green satin dress and bearing a flowered fiddle. Surrounding this union there is a glorious story of God's own good timing and the richness that resides in a community of loved ones, a cloud of witnesses.
So this song goes out to Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Peterson. I celebrate with much gladness the marriage of a dear friend to his very God-given helper, his beautiful soul's perfect mate.
...I believe a rose you send me
I believe that He will mend me
With a thread of love divine
Love divine
Love divinely selected
For only the love ordained up above
And stitched by fire in his side
With a thread of love divine....
