For Stanley and Leena Nelson

Some call it silver
But this is no second place
No paltry consolation prize

On that balmy Bombay winter day
In the far away country of 1984,
And Pallayamkottai town
Did your twin promises
To have and to hold
Spoken in hope (and fear?)
Did these words spark off a contest?

Yes, gentle friends
With your mutual "I do's"
God joined your lives together
And you plunged further into the great battle
As a newly-formed family
As two who were being moulded into one
As mutual warriors

So today we look back with joy
And perhaps a few tears (or many?)
But with the testimony
Of a quarter century
Of life together
Contending at the gates

Your contest has been no breathless sprint
Or pointless lap around cinder track
For some fading ribbon
Or tin cup

No, it was for lives that you contended
Holding out the hope of Jesus
Loving and caring
Through word and deed
Raising a family of three
And the broader family
Of adopted brothers and sisters
And sons and daughters
In Christ

And so we salute you two
You one
You won

On this day of thanksgiving
On the fifteenth of November
In the 2009th year of our Lord

We say: "Press on!"
Keep going to the next peak
Your silver
Is His gold.


- on the occasion of Stanley and Leena Nelson's silver wedding anniversary