Unitarian Wedding

Just got home from my friend Aaron's wedding. He asked me to be a groomsman back in the good ole' days at Great Central Insurance. The wedding was held outside at 12:30 at Wildlife Prairie Park (another former employer of mine). It was an absolutely gorgeous, but bit toasty, day! There's nothing like standing in direct sun in a black tux on a humid, 90 degree afternoon. Luckily, the ceremony was short.
The reception was in the A/C, and was very classy. It was cool to be back at the park and see some of my old animal and human friends. Of course, I had to introduce Gina to the cougars.

Ever heard of a Unitarian Universalist? I hadn't. But that's what the pastor was. The ceremony was definitely different. The readings were from Maya Angelou and some other guy, there was no mention of scripture, holy covenant, etc. He did mention "God" in his closing prayer. And the recessional music was to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers," which I thought was strange.
I did a little poking around to see what these UU's believe. Apparently, they take some from Judaism, Christianity, humanism, and make some stuff up themselves and call it good. They have no creed and encourage their members to search for truth on any path they choose. From the glimpse I caught today, it appears there is a lot of focus put on the individual person and worldly experiences. No mention of heaven. How hopeful.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. Two quotes I'll share:
"Is it taped like a shypewriter?"
"Then we'll have the words of resentment" (um, "pastor", I think it's remembrance)