“Let Love and Friendship reign”

 I was with a band of travelers.  I was in the tent of the leader.  He was a "cowboy-gentleman." He was rustic on the outside but refined on the inside. He was everyone's friend, their brother and their father.  He was kind and generous, he was powerful and respected.  He was rich and dictated his own rules that those who followed him kept. He was a gentle and loving King. He protected his followers and provide for them.  They did his work, and he loved them.  And they loved him. 

And I loved him.

And he asked me to stay with him.  And he presented a ring to me from his own finger.  He said I would belong with him, and I would stay with him.

I knew there was a reason I should say, "no."  But I didn't want to say no.  I hesitated.  He offered again; no pressure, just an offer of kindness.

Then I accepted his offer, and he gave me his ring.  It was a simple, but beautiful- Claddagh ring.  The symbols were on a band, and the band was covered in Celtic knots.  The Claddagh symbols were on the underside of the ring, which faces the palm.

As soon as I took the ring I realized why I should have said, "no."  

If I went with him I would have to leave my family.

If I stayed with my family I could not go with him.

When I woke up I felt really sad about this dream.

I wondered at first why a good and kind King would ask anyone to leave her family to be part of his kingdom.  It didn't seem fair.

Then I remembered that Jesus said this, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "

Matthew 10:37-39 ESV

Sometimes the crosses we take up, the burdens we bear,  are really the things we lay down.  I lay down my family, I lay down myself, I lay down my things to follow Jesus.

The symbols of the hands holding the heart with a crown mean "Let Love and Friendship reign."

The Claddagh ring has been used a promise ring and a wedding ring for hundreds of years in the Gallaway Bay area of Ireland.