marriage as a value

Life just seems to get more and more interesting every day. Our commissioner has decided that our territory must speak about the values of Christ and what it would mean to live out those values. The first value we need to look at is the family, relationships, marriage.

Looking at marriage as a value is very different from looking at it as a way of life. Marriage has come to mean so many different things including a tax break!

As we were looking at marriage Paul McCarthy was in the news with his divorce and possible engagement - Elton John had married his life long partner and so Hollywood was again making marriage the popular thing to do. But at what cost. Does nothing worth having last anymore???

Marriage is not an easy option. Its hard work. Two different people coming together with the common goal of making "it" work seems doomed from the start. But God takes two hearts and bends the one then the other, he works on our temperament and refines our lives. All so that we can know the picture of the bride (church) and his son (Christ). To prepare the bridegroom goes to his fathers house and builds a suitable dwelling place for his bride to be. To prepare the bride starts on a journey of cleansing. She purifies herself by reading the word of God for Jews this is the Torah. She sits under the counsel of wise older women. She makes her clothes, she prepares her body - for Esther an entire year of preparation for one night with the king. For the family its a time to prepare the daughter and help the son.

What we lose we make a marriage all about a wedding and nothing about a life. I have had the privilege of working with women who settled for less then the best in a husband and paid the price by the beatings they received. For many the man started out great but turned into a monster with the help of alcohol or drugs. Good intentions became empty promises and life turned from great to hate and misery resulted.

How do we get back the original intention of marriage? How do we encourage our young people to know that marriage is actually such a sacred act. You have to enter into it with reverent thought and intention. Keeping true to one another is all about being true to yourself and who you are and with that integrity comes union.

I guess life is what happens when you're not looking. I'm not sure that values are the breaks on the wheels of life and really need to be those moments when we actually stop and smell the roses and think about our actions.

So slow down, think, imagine, dream then live