This is a big year for my wife Kathy and me. It marks our 25thanniversary of marriage. Hooray! And I look forward to the next 25 years.
To celebrate, we decided to spend some time together on a cruise to Alaska last month. With my busy practice, teaching and active lecture schedule, time together is precious for us. So, we’d been looking forward to this trip for many months.
I stay spiritually productive, even when on vacation. I keep up with my practice and write, too. I’m not sure exactly what a vacation is. My whole life is so enjoyable, I rarely feel like I need a vacation in the traditional understanding of the word. But I appreciate the needs of the rest of my family too, so make time to get away from the daily routine and spend special occasions with my wife and children.
I decided ahead of time that I would use this trip as an opportunity to first love and cherish Kathy more than ever, but also to think and pray about the blessings of marriage, why marriage is important, and the good it’s done for me.
(This blog is the first of 15 to come on this subject…)
Marriage gets such a bad rap in so many ways. Comedians and pundits make it out to be a straitjacket, a prison-cell with no key out, a death trap for happiness, or a ritual of enduring hardship. High divorce statistics make its ideals look impossible to fulfill. Children of divorced parents figure if their parents can’t get it right, how will they? Those seeking justification for promiscuous sex rationalize it as unnecessary. Those engrossed in self fear it to be a sink-hole for self-fulfillment. Those who fail to see its virtues and blessings may argue the ages have outgrown it.
But I’d like to stick up for marriage. Marriage is not a prison cell. It is not a death-trap for happiness. It is not something to fear, but to honor and understand better. It is possible to achieve its ideals. It is possible to be happily married, and for many decades. Marriage offers untold blessings for those are willing to work it out and do it right.
Marriage is not for everyone, I agree. But for the majority, it can be very good. It can promote great happiness. It can bring out profound love. It can bring out more of the better nature of each individual. It can be a mighty fortress of protection, morally, emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually, for husband and wife. It can be a quicker route to experiencing the fullness of God’s goodness, a springboard to heaven, a sanctuary of still water peace and a Secret Place of abiding love and heart-calming comfort.
I have had a very good experience with marriage, and would like to share some of the lessons I’ve learned.
More to come…
Amen…….couldn’t agree more! :o)
My wife and I have been married 38 years. We are still in love more so then ever.
When I was going through a divorce, four decades ago,
I worked closely with a loving Christian Science practitioner. One of the first ideas she shared with me was a Bible citation, “Thy Maker is thy husband.” (Isaiah 54:5) This fact affected me profoundly, and still does,
now 37 years into my present marriage. I have seen how it is that because we all are, in fact, wedded to the divine Mind, divine Love, God, we are husbanded by God, cherished, guided, guarded and totally loved, regardless of our human relationships. This is a spiritual fact, as explained fully in the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, especially the Chapter devoted to the subject, Marriage.
Leaning on this fact brought great comfort and healing to me, really changed my life! I was able to raise our three young children successfully, find peace of mind, forgiveness, and then happily remarry. But most of all, I learned to stay close, wedded, in thought to the divine Source of all Good, as much as I could. Yes, there have been challenges; this is the claim of “human experience.” But I have total conviction that through it all, through any and all rough patches, divine Love continues to be the only Life, the only action, the all of existence. How could we ask for more?
Thank You, God.
:<)))
I can only write of my experiences with marriage. I was married twice and twice I became widowed. To me, there is nothing on earth better than being married, especially “In sickness and in Health.” To go through those times and bring happiness and joy to your spouse even while she/he goes through it, is hard to describe. To make some one happy while they go through hardship is a blessing, not a burden as most people feel when things like this happens. Trust me on this, sexual gratification is the one millionth to be considered, and that is one of many reasons that leads into divorce.
My husband and I will be married 50 years next Feb. and I love him more every day. We are hoping to go on a special trip, too! Your next 25 years will be even better! Congratulations!
Marriage is good. However, when expectations are not met, disappointment and even anger are temptations. Working these challenges out promotes spiritual growth. Mary Baker Eddy is very candid about the challenges and spiritual promise of marriage.