Attend any traditional wedding ceremony and I guarantee you'll hear the pastor explain the symbolism behind the exchange of rings. The moral is that the ring, (similar in fashion to the concept of love) has neither a beginning nor an ending. Continue to listen and you will also hear the pastor elaborate on how love has the ability to endure all things and manifest itself in an unconditional nature. Now spend an afternoon in your local Barnes and Nobles researching modern day divorce rates and you'll learn that the U.S. ranks #1 in divorce rates with nearly five out of every 1,000 people falling into the divorcee category. It seems almost as commonplace today for couples to divorce as it is for them to marry. Just fifty years ago, our grandparents were able to maintain life long marriages. What did they know that we don't? Think about it… similar traditions, similar vows, similar churches; different results. Does this suggest that our ancestors were better at remaining in love than we are? Is the modern day church more accepting of the ideas of separation and/or divorce? Are we more inclined to lean on our own understanding and therefore disregard the teachings of the church as it applies to marriage? Or maybe, just maybe... it requires more than love to sustain a marriage. Is love sufficient? What is your take on the subject?
Corey R.
5 comments:
Love's the place to start - but not the end. In the middle there's understanding, compromise, compassion, LIKE....not just "love". With society no longer basically branding a big scarlet D in the middle of a woman's forehead (think "Walk the Line", one of my favorite movies), women are feeling more in control and walking away from marriages that don't work. I learned some of my best swear words at the knee of my grandpa, when he'd yell at my grandma. Love? Somewhere in there. But sometimes, love just ain't enough....
marriage is a partnership, not two people becoming one. Two minds cannot fuse, two souls cannot merge, two hearts cannot keep to the same time… You must remember and respect those differences and learn to understand them, for they are part of what made you come to love in the first place. love is willing to compromise – love is willing to admit that it is wrong. There will be hard times; you must face them as warriors do, side by side. There will be sadness as well as joy, and you must support one another through the grief and sorrow. There will be pain – but pain shared is pain halved, as joy shared is joy doubled …You must not pledge yourselves thinking that all will be well from this moment on. That is a dream, and dreamers must eventually wake. You must come to this joining fully ready, fully committed, and fully respectful of each other.
Author ?
Well said, anonymous. :) I second it!
I think Author ? said it best..so I guess that means I third his comments..:)I'm a male so I've noticed as I've gotten older is that the most important thing for males to do is to make sure they are READY to get married and be READY for the ups and downs..I see to many guys who get married b/c they love the woman, and don't want to let them go so they get married only to find out it wasn't REALLY what they wanted to do. I think this totally unfair to the woman and totally unfair to the man as well. Fellas be honest with these women and be honest with yourselves. If you're not ready to get married then just til you are b/c I don't believe LOVE will be enough...
I feel that the difference between our grandparent’s generation and ours, was not only a desire for the marriage, but a dependency for the marriage. Now a days woman is a lot more independent then she use to be. I know my grandma raised 4 kids and only worked in fields and as a housekeeper, so she depended on my grandfather to take care of the household. She shared with me that there were several times she wanted to walk away, but she did not know where to go, or if she could provide a better life for her children. Because of the lack of tolerance for crap now, I think that when the going gets tough, we forget about the sacredness of marriage, and simply get going!!!
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