Well, the good news is the wedding shoot yesterday went well. It was an exhausting 11-hour day, but the photographer was lovely to work with and it seemed to be a success.

I missed out the ceremony and most of the reception. However, I went in for part of it, as the maid and man of honour and bride and groom were giving their speeches, and then the first dance between bride and groom.

It was beautiful, there's no denying. I had that irresistible smile on my face that comes from watching the heart-touching beauty of a man and woman pledge their love for each other and join their lives together. No matter how many times you see it, it never grows old.

But something struck me as I watched it, and today as I was thinking about it again:

This is not the ultimate.

For the world, if you don't know God, and even for many Christians, the love between a man and a woman is the highest, the greatest, the most ultimate thing that it is possible to experience. In terms of love, in terms of relationship, in terms of life experiences, it is the apex.

Except it's not.

As beautiful, as wonderful, as glorious, as miraculous as the love between a man and a woman is, it is only a shadow. It is only a reflection of the true love, that is, the love between God and his people.

The apostle Paul talks about marriage in Ephesians, and he concludes by saying, "This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:32) We are told numerous times in Scripture that we are the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7). Jesus is called the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15).

Marriage is only for this life. Marriage to Jesus will be for eternity. We will be his forever, in a way and in a love that we can only begin to comprehend now.

But this is not just a word trick, calling something by a name to make it seem like something it's really not. The love between Jesus and his bride truly is the greatest, the most satisfying, the most fulfilling love we can ever possibly experience.

And we are meant to experience it, in a way and to an intensity that fills us up in a way that the relationship with a spouse, no matter how good, never can.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)

The good news is that as single Christians (as Paul was) we have full and complete access to this love, just as married Christians do. We are not incomplete. We are not lacking. We are not second-level, or inferior. We have the same access to Jesus' love, a love that fills and that satisfies beyond compare, a love that is the ultimate love, the true love, the love of which married love is only a shadow.

I pray that you would experience it. If you're not, ask for the Holy Spirit. Abandon yourself before God. Cry out for him, until you are filled with that love, the love that surpasses human knowledge, the love that brings ultimate joy.

This is going to be one of those silly, inconsequential, "my life" blog posts.

I have my first "real" professional wedding photography gig tomorrow. Actually, I won't be doing much shooting, just helping the photographer with things like transferring photos to her laptop and carrying stuff. I do have to shoot the guys getting ready, but other than that I can just shoot as I want for my own portfolio. The budget doesn't cover a full second shooter, so I'm just there as a gofer and to shoot for fun as I please.

That's a lot less pressure. However, as much as I've done this before, I have to admit there are a few more butterflies than normal at the idea of this being my first "real", paid gig. I tried for a long time to secure assistant wedding photog jobs, with no success. This one came out of the blue, through a friend of mine who is a pro photographer and recommended me to the woman I'll be assisting.

So I'm pretty excited about that. Who knows where it might lead? I'm hoping to be able to get more weekend gigs to boost the income and to get some much-needed professional experience on my photography resume. Plus, it'll just be fun. I love mucking about with photography anytime.

Yesterday I returned from a weeklong trip to Pennsylvania and New York. The main purpose of the trip was to be one of the photographers at my friend Josh's wedding. Along the way, I had a great time catching up with old friends from Toronto, visiting my family, and meeting a dear Flickr friend for a day.

I've come to the conclusion that I am obsessed with photography. That will perhaps come as no surprise to anybody who knows me, but what is obvious to others is sometimes not so obvious to us.

Photographers will identify with what I'm about to say.