Marriage
of
the
The
VOLUME 4 |NUMBER 2 |2013 13 12 ICSA TODAY
here must be some sort of delay. Already it’s
20 minutes past the time the Blessing was
supposed to begin, yet still Peggy and Rob are
waiting outside the arena. Peggy perspires from the
early summer heat.
A double column of brides and grooms snakes down
the circular corridor surrounding the main arena of
Madison Square Garden. From where she is standing,
Peggy can’t see the end of the line. She knows there
is another double column of couples waiting to enter
from the other direction. Lamb When the doors are finally
opened, the two columns will merge into one for the
wedding march.
The rumor being whispered up and down the lines is
that the delay is because security guards with metal
detectors are standing at every entrance to ensure
that no one can enter the arena with a weapon to try
to kill True Father, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Peggy tugs at her veil and the white wedding gown
she had made—a Simplicity pattern (with the neckline
raised two inches) that all the brides had used. She
knows without
glancing at him that Rob is giving her that peculiar
look that makes her so uncomfortable.
They had met 2 days before. At the Matching in the
ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel (now called the
World Mission Center) just two blocks away, True
Father had paired her up with Rob. This was not the
first time Peggy had seen the Messiah in person but
on every other occasion, she’d been seated on the
floor of a large room listening while Father spoke at
length. This time, however—for one brief moment—
she’d stood right next to Father while he surveyed the
room to find a suitable match for her. All the eligible
brothers were seated cross-legged on the floor on the
right side, while all the available sisters were
assembled to the left. Father had pointed first at her.
She stood up and approached him. Father then
surveyed the brothers for a minute before stabbing
his finger in the direction of Rob, a burly older
American brother whom Peggy had never seen. She
was still jet-lagged from a flight out of England that
had brought her to New York the previous day.
During the entire flight, she’d been excited but
nervous about who would be chosen for her husband.
Remembering her first glimpse of Rob rising to meet
her at the front of the Grand Ballroom, Peggy risks a
glance at him now. He responds with a nervous smile,
momentarily erasing the hungry, almost predatory
look he usually gives her. He is a large man dressed in
a navy blue, two-piece suit, with black shoes, white
shirt, and white gloves, set off by a maroon necktie of
the exact same shade that all the grooms are wearing.
Rob pulls the tie out from his vest and twists it around
so she can read the words embroidered on the cloth
loop at the back. “World Peace Through Ideal Family,” it
proclaims, with the first two words in script and the
rest (on the line below) in block
capitals: “JULY 1, 1982.”
“Very nice,” Peggy assures him, then turns away again
to look straight ahead. There is still no movement in
the long queues waiting outside the arena doors.
Since Father is inspired by God, there must be some
reason God wants her to marry this older man who
makes her feel so uneasy. After they were matched,
they had gone to a side balcony to discuss the match.
Many other prospective couples were already there,
but they’d found a small table where they could sit by
themselves to talk. Peggy could have refused Rob,
but she’d been instructed to trust Father’s decision, so
she resolved to accept him. Yet, even at their first brief
meeting, he’d surprised her by admitting he often hid
from church leaders whenever he wanted to avoid
church activities.
At last, the long line of couples begins moving
forward. Well up the corridor, Peggy sees that the
arena doors are finally open. The two double columns
unite at the entrance, forming a single phalanx of
eight couples arrayed in alternating colors—blue,
white, blue, white—all moving together like a
swelling river of humanity flowing into the arena.
Now Peggy is at the entrance, and the vast space
opens up before her, brightly lit, with the floor
carpeted in dazzling white. Immediately after
entering, the couples climb several steps to a dais
carpeted in deep red. They cross the dais, marching in
procession, and then descend to the arena floor.
Father and Mother, wearing flowing white robes with
gold brocade and white crowns tinged with gold,
stand on raised platforms on each side, holding large
white wands. Beside them are huge bowls filled with
Holy Water. When they pass directly underneath True
Father, Peggy feels the Holy Water splashing the side
of her veil.
As they step down onto the arena floor, the phalanx
divides again in two, with couples streaming to the
left and right toward their assigned places. Peggy
knows that she and Rob are expected to take their
places in the bleachers at the back. The arena floor is
already completely jammed with prospective brides
and grooms. After they reach their spot, Peggy and
Rob turn to face the dais where the True Parents are
standing in front of two elegant chairs upholstered in
red and gold. Father begins the ceremony with a
prayer, which booms out over the entire arena in
guttural, emphatic Korean.
Peggy takes a sidelong glance at Rob. The man she is
to marry is a mechanic at the church warehouse in
Queens. He fixes the Dodge and Ford vans for the
mobile fundraising teams who fan out all over the
country, selling flowers and candy to save America.
T
By K. Gordon Neufeld
ICSA_volume4Issue2_Final 8/9/13 8:31 PM Page 14
of
the
The
VOLUME 4 |NUMBER 2 |2013 13 12 ICSA TODAY
here must be some sort of delay. Already it’s
20 minutes past the time the Blessing was
supposed to begin, yet still Peggy and Rob are
waiting outside the arena. Peggy perspires from the
early summer heat.
A double column of brides and grooms snakes down
the circular corridor surrounding the main arena of
Madison Square Garden. From where she is standing,
Peggy can’t see the end of the line. She knows there
is another double column of couples waiting to enter
from the other direction. Lamb When the doors are finally
opened, the two columns will merge into one for the
wedding march.
The rumor being whispered up and down the lines is
that the delay is because security guards with metal
detectors are standing at every entrance to ensure
that no one can enter the arena with a weapon to try
to kill True Father, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Peggy tugs at her veil and the white wedding gown
she had made—a Simplicity pattern (with the neckline
raised two inches) that all the brides had used. She
knows without
glancing at him that Rob is giving her that peculiar
look that makes her so uncomfortable.
They had met 2 days before. At the Matching in the
ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel (now called the
World Mission Center) just two blocks away, True
Father had paired her up with Rob. This was not the
first time Peggy had seen the Messiah in person but
on every other occasion, she’d been seated on the
floor of a large room listening while Father spoke at
length. This time, however—for one brief moment—
she’d stood right next to Father while he surveyed the
room to find a suitable match for her. All the eligible
brothers were seated cross-legged on the floor on the
right side, while all the available sisters were
assembled to the left. Father had pointed first at her.
She stood up and approached him. Father then
surveyed the brothers for a minute before stabbing
his finger in the direction of Rob, a burly older
American brother whom Peggy had never seen. She
was still jet-lagged from a flight out of England that
had brought her to New York the previous day.
During the entire flight, she’d been excited but
nervous about who would be chosen for her husband.
Remembering her first glimpse of Rob rising to meet
her at the front of the Grand Ballroom, Peggy risks a
glance at him now. He responds with a nervous smile,
momentarily erasing the hungry, almost predatory
look he usually gives her. He is a large man dressed in
a navy blue, two-piece suit, with black shoes, white
shirt, and white gloves, set off by a maroon necktie of
the exact same shade that all the grooms are wearing.
Rob pulls the tie out from his vest and twists it around
so she can read the words embroidered on the cloth
loop at the back. “World Peace Through Ideal Family,” it
proclaims, with the first two words in script and the
rest (on the line below) in block
capitals: “JULY 1, 1982.”
“Very nice,” Peggy assures him, then turns away again
to look straight ahead. There is still no movement in
the long queues waiting outside the arena doors.
Since Father is inspired by God, there must be some
reason God wants her to marry this older man who
makes her feel so uneasy. After they were matched,
they had gone to a side balcony to discuss the match.
Many other prospective couples were already there,
but they’d found a small table where they could sit by
themselves to talk. Peggy could have refused Rob,
but she’d been instructed to trust Father’s decision, so
she resolved to accept him. Yet, even at their first brief
meeting, he’d surprised her by admitting he often hid
from church leaders whenever he wanted to avoid
church activities.
At last, the long line of couples begins moving
forward. Well up the corridor, Peggy sees that the
arena doors are finally open. The two double columns
unite at the entrance, forming a single phalanx of
eight couples arrayed in alternating colors—blue,
white, blue, white—all moving together like a
swelling river of humanity flowing into the arena.
Now Peggy is at the entrance, and the vast space
opens up before her, brightly lit, with the floor
carpeted in dazzling white. Immediately after
entering, the couples climb several steps to a dais
carpeted in deep red. They cross the dais, marching in
procession, and then descend to the arena floor.
Father and Mother, wearing flowing white robes with
gold brocade and white crowns tinged with gold,
stand on raised platforms on each side, holding large
white wands. Beside them are huge bowls filled with
Holy Water. When they pass directly underneath True
Father, Peggy feels the Holy Water splashing the side
of her veil.
As they step down onto the arena floor, the phalanx
divides again in two, with couples streaming to the
left and right toward their assigned places. Peggy
knows that she and Rob are expected to take their
places in the bleachers at the back. The arena floor is
already completely jammed with prospective brides
and grooms. After they reach their spot, Peggy and
Rob turn to face the dais where the True Parents are
standing in front of two elegant chairs upholstered in
red and gold. Father begins the ceremony with a
prayer, which booms out over the entire arena in
guttural, emphatic Korean.
Peggy takes a sidelong glance at Rob. The man she is
to marry is a mechanic at the church warehouse in
Queens. He fixes the Dodge and Ford vans for the
mobile fundraising teams who fan out all over the
country, selling flowers and candy to save America.
T
By K. Gordon Neufeld
ICSA_volume4Issue2_Final 8/9/13 8:31 PM Page 14
