........The child knows better: a promise is a promise. It is not just children who think that a promise is a promise. God thinks so too. He also believes that our word is our bond. The Lord says, “Let your word be, ‘Yes, yes’, or ‘No, no’. Anything beyond this is from the Evil One” (Mt. 5:37). The Pharisees thought that promises were binding only if backed up with certain solemn oaths (see Mt. 23:16). They were wrong: all of our promises bind us—especially the promises we make on our wedding day. For whether the promise is explicit and verbal (as in western churches) or implicit (as in eastern churches), at the wedding ceremony, man and woman promise to stay together forever. That is why in the Orthodox wedding service, the priest prays that God will receive the wedding crowns of the newly-married in His Kingdom–the couple’s union is expected to endure like the Kingdom of God..... ......... Fleetwood Mac song: “I can still hear you saying, you would never break the chain.” Love wants the chain to endure forever. However, the point of the promise, the justification of the chain, is not simply the joy of the couple. It is the security of their children. The chains quickly become walls—the walls of a home, made strong and durable to keep out danger and fear. The divorcing couple may come to regard their marriage promise simply as “a piece of paper,” a legal agreement that can be dissolved by lawyers. But the children do not experience the marriage simply as a legal agreement, but as their world, and the walls which keep them safe. Breaking the marital promise may prove to be a heartbreak for the couple; it is a catastrophe for the children, and the escalating culture of divorce sweeping North America normalizes and multiplies such catastrophes. Secularizing apologetics may seek to justify this cultural shift and attempt to minimize its significance to our children. But the catastrophe remains nonetheless, and its effects prove to be long-term. Why marriage? God has established marriage because only this fits and satisfies the human heart when it is in love. Only this permanence can give the crucial security for family and children. Only this institution can provide the stability any society needs to survive. To be sure, Orthodoxy knows that God can forgive and heal, and the Church allows for restoration after divorce, and even remarriage. The words of this article are not meant to condemn those divorced, but to encourage those still married. Those who are married should take courage: the world may buffet us, and challenge our constancy. But with repentance and hard work, we Christian couples can survive the challenge. We have to. As children remind us, we promised.... the article posted by an orthodox group is entitled why get married. it could just as easily been entitled why stay married myocn.net/why-get-married/
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 01:00:36 +0000
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