Living the Message Feb 16

Marriage

Every marriage crosses another boundary of genealogy. Disparate histories are brought together in such a way that the other is presented for appreciation and praise, not contempt and rejection. Every marriage is proof that the other is not the enemy, not the rival, not the threat, but the friend, the ally and at best, the lover.
All marriages are ventured into with this possibility and expectation, but they do not all confirm it. Marragies fail. Paterners become rivals, jealous and threatened, rejecting and rejected. Betrayals occour. Still, the most significant recurring act of love that takes place in society is marriage. Ezra Pound was radical in his claim for it: "One humane family can humanize a whole state into courtesy; one grasping and perverse man drive a nation to chaos."

...a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. what is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband to treat his wife, loving himself in loving het, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

Ephesians 5:31-33