Fertility rites

© 2001 Alicia

 

Nowadays almost anybody could list off numerous reasons not to get married. There’s even a practical excuse, thanks to Bill Clinton: the tax laws are in favor of live-in couples! When it doesn’t matter as far as your moral code goes whether you live with someone you’re married to or not, what IS the point, anyway? Living together reduces the commitment factor, the taking-it-for-granted factor, it’s less fuss, it even makes one feel one is keeping her/his youth (read that foolish youth..) longer.

 

It’s true marriage has become a seriously flawed institution. The understanding gap between men and women has widened more and more as we live in this decaying world. I have come to a resolution, in my own mind. I have come more and more to believe there was great wisdom in the scripture that says “it is better to marry than to burn” (1 Corinthians 7:8-9). I believe marriage is only a necessity because of the world we live in. Marriage must provide posterity, stability, and companionship here on earth.  You see, the only reason we have any kind of “burn” is because we live apart from God. In His presence there is complete fulfillment. My thought is that marriage was put into place after sin entered the world, just as clothes and painful childbirth were, because God knew just how pronounced the flaws would become. Certainly, we’re seeing the desperation now. This is why many people don’t believe marriage will exist in heaven, in that “perfect world”.

 

Of course, we can’t know until that day, you know the one I’m talking about. Until then, remember how important it is to be in constant contact with teaching on the reasoning for not “slacking the burn” the easy way.