Relativism and Marriage Part 2

If marriage and family can mean anything it means nothing. If marriage can involve any relationship, it no longer has any objective significance. What is so special and redeeming about a man and a woman coming together, and pledging lifelong fidelity and love? There is no doubt that men and women are different. We are different in the way our brain operates, i.e., the way we interact in relationships, and how we communicate. These differences call for patients, sacrifice, forgiveness and grace. These attributes are essential to cultivate, and marriage provides the perfect relationship to perfect these virtues. This is why the stakes are so high in cultivating a healthy marriage.

Broken marriages do not happen without broken men and women. Divorce is not an accident; it is a result of a man and a woman who could not come to terms with the cost of loving each other. Occasionally, divorce is the result of one partner, but usually it takes two to break what was one. A man and a woman possess enough commonality and difference to make for a lifetime of learning and spiritual growth, but often, even with healthy marriages, sin easily entangles and binds them from providing the safety, joy, and comfort they were meant to give each other.

The great divide between men and women can only be overcome by their willingness to overcome the limitations of their biology and become truly spiritual. The bliss of falling in love can never instill the virtues that true and abiding love can. We do not become better people because we are in love; we become better people when we lean to love, when we deny ourselves, when we forgive, when we are patient, and show mercy. The family should be a sanctuary in an impatient, demanding, and unforgiving world.

TOTT