Luke 20:27-38
There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.’
And Jesus said to them, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.’
I’ve had quite a number of conversations lately about marriage and what it entails. I’m pretty sure its original intention was to create a family unit into which children were born. I don’t think anyone doubts that. In a sense, as one friend put it recently, it’s a little like starting a company – in both the eyes of the church and the eyes of the state, your union gets the stamp of approval and is legitimised. There’s also the notion of two becoming one – two lives merging. And of making a commitment to another person in the eyes of God: a life-long commitment.
That’s the way it used to be. In this twenty-first-century world of ours, marriage, like everything else, has become disposable – a convenience; something to try on for size to see if you like it; something to wear for a while to see if it suits. And if it doesn’t, you can get out of it. But what of those who are past ‘child-bearing age’ or, more antisocial still, have no interest in having children? Why then would they get married?
While I know people who have been married two, three, or even four times, I’ve never ventured up the aisle myself. It”s always been on my list of things to do, though, and as recently as yesterday, I was convinced it was high on my list of things to do. But standing back and taking stock of my life, where I’m living and what I’m doing, getting married is the last thing that’s likely to happen to me. So how much do I really want it? I need to think some more about that.
I’m one of the lucky ones, not because I’m single, but because I’ve been having these conversations. When we meet people who hold up a mirror to our soul; who make us examine what we think and believe; who ask the awkward questions that force us down a road of self-discovery; who call us on things we’ve heretofore trot out by rote, when we meet these people we should pay attention. We should listen to what they have to say. We should engage with them in conversation. As Socrates said: the unexamined life is not worth living.
With thanks, and with hope, until next week, take care
Dear friend Mary,
Another – thought provoking message. Could it be that an unexamined life is more peaceful? Ignorance being bliss, and all:) My sleepless nights prove that old Soc was right. Dang!!!!
Hope you a well.
Love you, Donna
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