I Married Willie

Posted: September 8th, 2008 | Author: david | Filed under: justification | No Comments »

The other day someone called the church. In an extraordinarily thick accent a man spoke. “This is Willie. I’m from Wilkes County, North Carolina- that’s between Winston-Salem and Boone. I am here at the Days Inn in York- between the Wal-Mart and the Lowes. I want to speak with the Preacher.”

“What can I do for you?” I asked, assuming he was going to hit me up for money.

“Preacher, I’m in the suite at the Days Inn in York- between the Wal-Mart and Lowes- and I want to know if you can marry me and my fiance.”

I was a little cynical and tried to think of a way I could get out of this. “Well, sir, I cannot marry you without a marriage license.” That was the best excuse I could come up off the top of my head?

“Well, Preacher, I will pick up my marriage license in York at 3:12 this afternoon,” he assured me.

3:12? Why not 3 o’clock or 3:15? Why does he know the specific MINUTE he can pick up his license? Something had to be up with this. I had to get out of it. “Well, sir, since I do not know you and you would ask me to sign a legal document, I would have to be able to verify your identities. I would require you to have your driver’s licenses and social security cards.” Surely this would get me out of it.

“We have all the necessary documentation, Preacher. I will make it worth your while.” After a while of hum-hoeing and stalling, eventually I couldn’t find a good excuse to get out of it so I caved in and told him I would meet him.

Still unsure and hoping for a way out I called another Pastor and made sure this was all legal (both in the laws of the State and the regulations of our denomination). Laughing at me, he told me that it was okay. He did, however, caution me that Willie’s claim to, “make it worth your while” might mean that I would soon be in possession of his best coon-dog.

I told my wife about the immanent wedding that afternoon she threatened me, “You will NOT go there alone. Promise me you will take someone with you.” I called a couple people and tried to round up someone to go with me. Eventually I found a retired member of our church who was at home. “Melvin, can I ask you a strange favor?”

“Okay. Sure, David,” Melvin hesitated.

“Can you come help me preform a wedding this afternoon?” After explaining the scenario to Melvin he had two questions for me. First, “Should I be packing?” After I assured him that I didn’t want this to be a shotgun, revolver, semi-auto, or any other type of firearm wedding he asked me his second question, “Do I have to dress up?” Since this wedding was going to be at the Days Inn- between the Wal-Mart and Lowes in York- I assured him that he didn’t need to.

On the way to the Days Inn- between the Wal-Mart and Lowes- Melvin explained that York used to be known all over the east coast as the quickest wedding between New York and Miami. Apparently people from all over would come here for a quickie wedding.

When we got to the Days Inn- between the Wal-Mart and Lowes- we went to the suite when we were greeted by a man who surpassed our stereotypes. Willie was a 70 year-old man. He met us in a pair of jeans and a blue-flannel shirt which hung open revealing his scrawny chest. He was excited to see us and greeted us as he enjoyed his pimento cheese sandwich, which he had a hard time keeping in his mouth- not only because he was talking with his mouth full but because he was missing his four front teeth.

He welcomed us into his suite and introduced us to his fiance as he apologized that the “hunger just hit me, Preacher.” He polished off his sandwich and chased it with a glass of milk, offering us to partake of his pre-wedding feast with him. We politely declined.

Seeing that he wasn’t quite ready yet, I asked Willie if he would like us to wait outside, since we were a little early. He assured us that it was okay and he just had to throw on a shirt and pants- which he then proceeded to do right in front of us. Thankfully his fiance was already dressed.

Melvin, starting to put his guard down, began to make polite conversation with Willie. “Have you ever been to York before, Willie?”

“Last time,” Willie succinctly stated, “but they didn’t make me wait 24-hours then.” It turned out that Willie and his fiance had recently lost their spouses to death. They had known each other for a while and decided to get married. They could have done this at the courthouse but they really wanted the Lord to bless their marriage.

Willie was excited that Melvin had joined me. Willie thrust a Polaroid into Melvin’s hand and told him that he would be the wedding photographer. He was especially excited to get his picture taken in front of the sign for the gas station next door. The chain’s name is, “On the Run.” He couldn’t get over how funny that was.

Melvin was familiar with Wilkes County- that’s between Winston-Salem and Boone- so he asked Willie if he knew Junior Johnson- one of the fathers of stock car racing. It turned out that Willie did- they had spent time in prison together for running moonshine. Suddenly the “On the Run” sign made sense.

“Preacher, where are we going to do this thing?”

“I think it should be up to the bride,” I suggested, “We could do it here in the suite or maybe the hotel has a meeting room or we could do it outside by the pool.”

“Let’s do it by the pool, Preacher. We don’t have a pool like that in Wilkes County”- that’s between Winston-Salem and Boone. So we left the room for the pool.

Willie told Melvin to take a picture of them by the pool and then told me where to stand. He and his bride stood with their backs to the pool as I began the simple ceremony. As I began the service I still wondered what was going on, but as I came to the vows I saw Willie’s confident composure soften as he looked into his brides eyes and repeated the wedding vows. It was a sweet moment.

After the ceremony we all shook hands and Willie told us how grateful he was for our help. We told him we were glad to serve him in this capacity. Melvin and I were each allowed to give the bride a traditional kiss, and as we shook Willie’s hand for a final goodbye Melvin had one final request, “Don’t forget to name your first born child after us.”

As a Yankee living in the South I often justify myself by comparing myself to the rednecks around me. I tell myself I am a better person because I have jeans without holes and both sleeves on my shirts. I think of myself as superior because I don’t chew tobacco and have a good set of teeth. I speak correctly in my neutral, Midwestern accent. When I justify myself in this way I feel good about myself at the expense of others. When I am reminded that Christ has justified me, and I don’t have to compare myself to anyone else, I am then freed to love people like Willie- who just wanted a Christian blessing to his new marriage. My justification in Christ frees me to serve others in love rather than find self-love at other people’s expense.

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