The Nature of Marriage

I would like to direct your attention to a discussion on Soulforce forums. The discussion is not primarily about same-sex marriage, although it does enter into the discussion, but about the nature of marriage in it’s most basic form. What is it that makes a marriage?

The post was started by 17 year-old Jennifer – one of my favorite 17 year-olds because of the depth of her thoughts and her gentle spirit. The answers have ranged from the almost, but not quite, mundane to purely and simply eloquent. One of my favorites is post #6 from u-dog, one of the other ministers on the boards. Jennifer’s inquiry began:

What is marriage?

This is a very open ended topic, I don’t know exactly what I’m looking to get out of this.

I’m from a family of people who are good evidence of the 50% (or less) that do last, my aunt/uncle with 20 years and my grandparents with 50+.

Clearly, marriage does work some of the time.

Then my mom, two divorces. Then, soooo many others who have ended up divorced.

Then there is my brother who has been with his girlfriend for over 5 years, he’s only 25.

When I run across the question, “do you want to get married someday?” I always find myself saying no. Not because I don’t want a loving relationship, I do… but because I don’t really believe that marriage means anything anymore.

For my generation and my brother’s, this is not an uncommon feeling …

The full discussion can be viewed here: Soulforce forums – What is Marriage? Happy reading and thinking.

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