By now you have probably seen and heard about the latest viral wedding photo.
Wedding photographer Dwayne Schmidt captured an emotional shot shortly before vows were exchanged in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday, May 23rd. Marine Corporeal Caleb Earwood and his wife-to-be Maggie are pictured holding hands while in prayer.
Maggie is seen hiding around the corner though, to keep the tradition of the wedding couple not to see each other the day of the wedding, until the bride walks down the aisle. Maggie is clearly having an emotive reaction to listening to her soon-to-be-husband’s prayer.
The newlyweds are now in Tennessee for their honeymoon. Then they will live together in Jacksonville, North Carolina at Camp Lejeune, where Caleb is stationed.
Dwayne Schmidt’s beautiful photo of the wedding couple went viral. And I think I know why.
OUR CULTURE IS GOING DOWNHILL, FAST
If you think about it, you would have to agree. Very little of our culture is redeemable these days. As each day passes, the moral sewage in this country just continues to pile on.
No one in this country lives unaffected by the Culture of Death. Each of us has been hurt by it or knows friends or family who have been.
Widespread divorce has left a wake of damage for several generations. Children watching couple after couple throw in the towel on their commitment to married life no longer have good role models.
Promiscuity for the youth is not only tolerated, it is encouraged, or at least expected. Teens are not taught the purpose of sex, much less the meaning of marriage.
The Earwoods’ photograph symbolizes that yearning everyone has. It is innate to each of us, as part of our human nature. We are made to love and to be loved.
The hook up culture leaves its participants depressed, especially young girls. Giving one’s self away night after night in fornication has the same effect on the soul as binging on junk food all day, every day. It tastes good for a moment, but it leaves you with a bad after taste and feeling very unhealthy, as it cannot sustain you.
Contraception use remains rampant among all generations. Contraceptive sex remains empty, shallow, and deep down, I suspect people realize it.
Marriages mean nothing. Being a man, even, means little. Being a woman means little more. These are the messages the mass media spews day after day.
WHAT THE VIRAL WEDDING PHOTO SAYS ABOUT OUR CULTURE
So many people are completely lost. They are seeking happiness. They want satisfaction. Ultimately, they want to experience love.
The Earwoods’ photograph symbolizes that yearning everyone has. It is innate to each of us, as part of our human nature. We are made to love and to be loved.
Maggie and Caleb have hopefully found what everyone is searching for.
Maggie and Caleb’s photo going viral is symbolic of our culture dying for life-giving love.
Our society thirsts for meaning, but finds none in the desert that the Culture of Death has created.
By being excited for the Earwoods, society is saying they hope the newlyweds have even a fleeting realization of true love. All in the hopes that true love does exist. That it can be found.
And if perhaps they found it, then maybe I can or you can too.
I can’t help but make two other observations. First, the Earwoods are shown following a tradition. It’s good to know people still honor those.
Second, Caleb is pictured praying. In this post-Christian culture of ours, maybe the viral wedding photo is proof some people still think prayer is necessary. It’s a breath of fresh air to see someone practicing their Christian faith.
FUNNY, IS IT NOT? OUR CULTURE STILL MAKES A BIG DEAL OUT OF WEDDINGS
Do you find it just as curious as I do that our culture still gets excited over weddings?
Our society no longer carries the expectation that a married couple will remain together until death do them part. A married couple these days is not expected to necessarily remain faithful to one another.
A married couple can choose to avoid having children and still be celebrated in our culture. A man and a woman need not even be the wedded couple for our society to sanction the arrangement a ‘marriage.’
With little value given to marriages anymore, I ask you again, why is it that weddings are such a big deal still in our culture?
As the viral wedding photo of the Earwoods indicates, people still recognize a yearning for true love. A wedding is a moment to celebrate that maybe, just maybe, a man and his new wife have found what everyone is incomplete without.
YOUR TURN
That’s my assessment of this recent viral wedding photo. What do you think?
Do you agree? Or do you have another explanation why Maggie and Caleb’s photo became so popular so quickly?
Please share your thoughts below!
(Photo credit to Dwayne Schmidt)
