A lasting union
Divorce rates continue to climb. What's the solution? When two people, each with a different set of ancestors and parents, each with a different background and assemblage of strengths and weaknesses, decide to join forces in marriage and legally set up house together, this can sometimes present challenges. It also provides a tremendous opportunity for wisdom, Christian caring, and spiritual growth.
"How can we put our union on a solid basis?" "How can we nurture the relationship?" Couples benefit from asking such questions both before and during marriage.
Christ Jesus said, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." n1 A man and woman who are married can begin to prove that God has indeed joined them together as they live increasingly their Godlike, true natures, and don't let all- too-prevalent traits, such as jealousy and apathy, put the marriage asunder.
n1 Matthew 19:6;
What does hold a couple together? Con gruity of character, interest in each other's interests, basic agreement on fundamental values, and a deep desire to add to each other's happiness. Above all, a spiritual union -- a linking of hearts and high purposes. A concordant recognition of God is a powerful unifier.
Mary Baker Eddy n2 answers the question "What do you think of marriage?" with: "that it is often convenient, sometimes pleasant, and occasionally a love affair. Marriage is susceptible of many definitions. It sometimes presents the most wretched con must be a union of the affections that tends to lift mortals higher." n3
n2 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science;
n3 Miscellaneous Writings,m p. 52
Christian Science brings strength to any marriage, in the proportion that the divine Principle of this Science, God, is understood and turned to as a life-model. Matrimony is a proving ground for our understanding of God and of man's actual nature as His idea. God has no outsiders. Allm are His children. No one, wife or husband, is left out of the kingdom of heaven.
If one is faced with opposition, prejudice, ridicule, because of his choice of a marriage partner, and if his choice has grown out of sufficient spiritual listening, he can stay poised in the truth of God and man. This isn't always easy. But if he refuses to react with belligerency, resentment, or self- righteousness, and instead sides firmly with the God-given qualities he loves in his partner and finds in himself -- and if he looks for those qualities in his critics -- he can rise above the persecution. It won't draw a reaction from him , because it will have nothing to feed on.
The factm is God and His universal family of ideas. If each individual idea is related harmoniously to the one Parent -- and each one is -- then it is possible to prove in human living the harmony forever existing between the ideas. A desire to make the marriage work will indicate the areas of viable compromise and the strength of cooperation.
As true manhood and womanhood reflect God's power and are immortal, they are bigger than any discord, separation, or heart- break. When we look beyond superficial aspects, entrench ourselves in the truths of being, and live at our highest point of spiritual poise and moral courage, we will be wise partners. Our perspectives will be rooted in spiritual fact, and therefore not subject to every passing challenge. ane we'll have the needed meekness and strength with which to build a lasting union. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7