The Royal Wedding on TV, Part 1

It would be easy enough for Prince William to be cynical about marriage, given the way his own parents' union turned out. Who could blame the chap if he swore off marriage altogether? That he has fought beyond the demons that plagued Charles and Diana and come out on the other side in such a confident way is, indeed, hopeful.

See also: Counterpoint on the Royal Wedding by Bernard Ohanian

When Prince William stands at the altar at Westminster Abbey, he will be flanked not by a best man, but by what the British call "supporters." It's an apt term, one that more accurately reflects the role we should all play in the lives of this couple.

"To be a witness is to be more than a spectator," the Archbishop says.

Life is hard. Marriage is challenging. It isn't the adulation or even the admiration of the public that Prince William and Kate Middleton are going to need. Like any bride and groom, what they need are people who will pray for them, encourage them and challenge them to be the partners they have promised to be.

It seems as if hope went AWOL these past few years as wars have rumbled on, and as economies the world over have tumbled. Lately, the only thing bringing us together as a world community has been all the calamity. Tsunami after earthquake after earthquake after tsunami. This wedding is the first time in quite a long while when we have had a reason to rejoice collectively.

"Everybody around the world watching this will have some sense of the commitments that are possible," says the Archbishop. "People who are witnessing the wedding are bound to ask themselves, if William and Catherine can make that sort of commitment, if these people can share that sort of generosity, perhaps I'm capable of more generosity, more commitment, more faithfulness, more purposefulness than I ever thought. Perhaps there's more to me than I ever realized."

I pray the Archbishop is right, and that those of us witnessing the Wedding of this Century come away encouraged, hopeful and more committed than ever to loving one another.

Karen Spears Zacharias is author of Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? ('Cause I Need More Room for My Plasma TV). She can be reached at www.karenzach.com or via Twitter @karenzach.