Is it still the rock that stands firm in the eddying stream of society?
Or has it been swept away in the torrent of change which society is experiencing?
Marriages do indeed take place, but nearly half of them crumble and disappear.
WHY???
Because partners are no longer accepted as grist to the mill that refines their relationship.
In my opinion and am living by it, we need to realize that marriage as a sacrament cannot be entered into lightly. It needs preparation, so that the two who wish to marry become conscious of the undertaking they will make to each other.
The standing of each individual and the equality of men and women need to be recognized.
The sacrament of marriage calls up the awareness of a special responsibility in those who marry, namely to strive for togetherness, one that embeds itself into life, into all that works through the biography and destiny of each partner.
It also points to the spiritual dimension in the striving of both, so that the divine force in earthy life is acknowledge and itself can be a witness to the commitment that the two person make to each other.
The marriage envisages that those who marry are not halves making the whole but the two wholes who place themselves in the service of each other.
The aim is not only to share a domestic arrangement or even for the sake of bringing up a family; these aspect need a higher principle to enliven and safeguard them.
This higher principle is one of regard for the wholeness of each other, the unfolding person who is equally at home in the spiritual world and in the earthy.
Regard for the one who can aspire to great thoughts and enjoy a rich imagination, and at the same time can be fully practical and wise about earthy needs and situation that life presents.
It calls for person who are able and glad to give space to each other and enable to the other to grow.
Persons who know their own weaknesses and selfish habits (like me) and are working to overcome them.
Persons who are striving in their soul life to be channels of feeling and love.
Persons who have greatness of heart.
These qualities require an acceptance of the divine, the welcoming of an angelic guide, and the pledge to be aware of the well being of one's partner.
These components build a marriage, bonded in the love of the partners, which ensures that children born to them will have an emotionally and spiritually nurturing family life.
They also make it possible for the couple to go through hardship, setback and difficulties in their individual biographies and their relationship without turning against each other; indeed they will be able to accept the challenges and learn through the experience of dealing with them openly and together such as the 'mother-in-law' issue??
Then, as the children grow up and leave the home, the couple will continue to sustain and enrich each other's wholeness, I hope, and prepare for the ageing process that can turn knowledge into wisdom and experience into understanding.
Relationship in a marriage is like a piece of music, and the partners in a marriage are the composers; they compose this music together.
For relationship needs a clear rhythm on which to build. Its melody will explore the new, you can never anticipate the way a melody is going, even if it repeats itself, for there is always development.
In regards to harmony, sometimes there is dissonance - chords that are not in accord; but then as the music develops, harmony is restored.
There are times when the relationship will be in slow movement - adagio. At other time it will be allegro; rippling along, enjoying each new moment, welcoming the new day and all that takes place in the course of it, and enjoying each other in the twirl and trills of soaring phrases.
There are all possible moods in a relationship, as in music; all possible modes. What makes it like music is the UNITY, the WHOLENESS and the WORKING out of a theme.
Destiny has led you together, and there is a deep-down meaning in your togetherness, this you have shown to one another.
So, it comes down to us, what do we want from our marriage???
ps/smoh
