The commitment of marriage is ancient. It is hugely important to those who make it,
to their children, family and friends, and to society. Indeed, it is heroic. A fundamental conviction of true heroes is,
"my comrade, my fellow citizen, or my partner, would have done it for me.”
In marriage, two people declare that that
conviction will be lifelong.
What starts as confidence when two people decide to
marry becomes over time the knowledge
that the more consciously and constantly they seek to represent each other -
and the Almighty Spirit in each human being - to the world, the better they,
and the world, will be.
In marriage, they each gain not only a partner to live
for: they each gain a partner to live up to.
In marriage, every act of self care is an act of care
for the other, and for the union.
Though travails are expected in marriage, as in life,
their nature and severity rarely is. In
marriage, every bit of the couple’s material preparation for the unexpected
and, much more important, every expression of their commitment to their own,
each other’s - and, God willing, their children’s - growth of character will
sustain their confidence in each other and increase their ability to endure
life’s travails.
