[MikeWaters]

I haven't been to all that many temple weddings, but it seems like there is a high proportion that have a sealer that has been slightly off his game.

Here are my instructions:

1. Smile a lot.
2. Put people at ease.
3. A little bit of gentle humor is ok (see #2), but leave the standup routine at home.
4. Avoid off-color humor (see #2).
5. Gravitas is good, but keep the homily short and to the point.

In some ways your job is to be forgettable. Because, I am betting, most of the time the sealer is remembered, it is not for reasons of competence. It's like a sacrament prayer--the good, appropriate ones are forgettable. It's the fiascos that we remember.

The other part of this coin is to not to get too upset if you get someone a little off his game. "That's the way baseball go," as Ron Washington, manger of the Texas Rangers likes to say.