The last time that I performed a wedding was thirty-two
years ago. Things have changed a lot in
the intervening years. The last marriage
that I performed was in our church building.
This one was outside in the gazebo of the inn where the reception was
held.
As I read
the familiar words of the vows that the bride and groom repeated after me, I
recalled the day when Glen and I repeated them. That will be forty-five years
ago in two weeks time.
It also
brought to mind an occasion, a few years back when I was forced to ask myself
what marriage is all about anyway. Someone who is dear to me announced that she
was moving in with her boyfriend. They
were not choosing to get married. I know
that is quite commonplace today, but until then it had not really touched me
personally. I knew I did not like the idea, but I wanted to explore why. I did not want to condemn someone I loved for
a choice she made, when I was not sure that I had good reason to do so. For me the first step was to try to discover
what my own understanding of marriage was.
Then I wanted to understand what her understanding of marriage was.
As I
reflected on the subject I drew some conclusions about marriage that I had not
considered before. I concluded that
there are three strands that are involved in the commitment that is made in
marriage and a union that includes all three would probably have the greatest
probability of enduring.
There is
the physical union that is expressed in the sexual union of the couple. There is the legal union that is formalized
by the documents that the couple is required to complete and register to be
considered a married couple by the state.
I called this the social union. Then there is the union that is
established when the couple chooses to exchange vows and promises to one
another, recognizing that this is done before God and witnesses in some kind of
public ceremony. This I called the
spiritual union.
It is
possible for a couple to have any one of these unions without the other two, or
two of them without the third. My feeling was that the optimal relationship
would have as the base, all three kinds of union.
When I
asked the one for whom I was concerned what her definition of marriage was
before I offered my theory, I was surprized to discover that her ideas were
very similar to mine. However, she still
chose to live together with her boyfriend, in a relationship that included only
one of these kinds of union.
What I
discovered was the case for her and have found to be true for many others as
well is that rather than embrace all three elements of the marriage
relationship at one time, she chose to eventually embrace them
sequentially. She is now married. She is
in a different relationship but in this one, the couple moved in together,
creating their physical union. Then, a
few years later they decided to go to the city hall and enter into the social
union by the adherence to all of the legal requirements of the
relationship. Then a while after that,
they decided to enter into what I called the spiritual union by making vows and
promises to one another in a public gathering where they were supported by the
prayers, blessings and good wishes of family and friends. It was not what I had anticipated and wanted but
it is the world that we live in today.
When Glen
and I married forty-five years ago we chose to enter our relationship by
creating all three unions on the same day.
Now with the fear that seems to accompany commitment for so many people
it seems to be more of a graduated process.
Why this is so, I am not really sure I understand. So I am sharing with you some of my
reflections on the complex relationship of marriage.
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| Word Guild Award 2011 |
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| Word Guild Award 2009 |
3 comments:
Eleanor, sincere congratulations to you and Glen on your 45 years of 'tri-union' together! (Lovely pics, too.)
Your marriage suggests the entwined "threefold cord" that's not easily or quickly broken. (Cf. Eccles.4:12)
I appreciate your thoughtful points.
Looks like your gazebo wedding was blessed with a lovely day. I also officiated at a couple of gazebo weddings a few years back, and both enjoyed gorgeous weather. ~~+~~
Congratulations to you and Glen. Thnk you for these thoughts... As I too deal with concerns around relationships of those close to me,,,, this was extremely helpful. The stage was set to a certain extent for us as our pastor could not legally marry us in the US. The spiritual union was the most important and so we did not actually get legally married until a month after our wedding.
As a CEO, my major concern is not necessarily the months results but rather the trends of the business. Are we headed up or down. I have begun to wonder whether God too is concerned with the trends of our life more than anyone screw up or set back.... This piece as you talk about sequential unions leads me to the same thought process... And certainly helps with those I am concerned about?
So many people nowadays get the process backwards. It does not make it any easier for them. Sadly living together is proving to be a limbo category that more often ends in multiple breakups rather than in marriage. Many hearts are being broken through this allergy to commitment. The key is revival. In history, weddings increase when people come to know Jesus, and adopt the biblical values. Let's pray, Eleanor, for coming revival and for strengthening of healthy marriages.
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