marriage
Okay, please bear with me on this one, as I am thinking out loud a bit. I would actually appreciate your help and input if you could offer it!
What does it mean to be married? What is marriage?
In Estonian, it is the beautiful combination of two words -- abielu = abi (help) + elu (life). I like the word for spouse even better -- abikaasa -- abi (abi) + kaasa (I'm not sure how to define this, but it's the word used for "take out" or if you bring someone along with you to something). And to be married is even cooler -- abielus = literally to be "in" a "life" of "help"! You are not married TO someone in Estonian, you are IN a marriage WITH the person; I think that's pretty cool.
But still, what IS marriage? Is it having sex? Is it living together? Is it having children together? Is it having a legal piece of paper from the government? Is it having the blessing of the "church" (whatever your definition of that word might be!)?
The Catholic Church believes that marriage is one of the 7 sacraments, and honestly that view of things makes more sense to me than any of the others.
We often hear that the engagement of Mary and Joseph was a lot more binding than our modern idea of engagement; in fact he would have had to "divorce" her to end it, although they were not "married" yet!
I want to assure you that my marriage with Tim is rock solid, and is not at all the basis for this line of questioning.
I don't know if you can even understand my thinking or not! For example, were slaves who married by jumping over a broom any less married than someone who does something more formal?
Here in Estonia, Salvation Army officers cannot perform marriages. People just register their marriage with the government, then we can have a blessing ceremony for the couple. So is the couple married when that government official grants the paper, or when the "minister" says the prayer?
Thanks for listening, friends! Comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Evelyn
posted by Kapten Clark at reede, mai 09, 2008
1 Comments:
Marriage is primarily covenant, so thats why being in a marriage with someone maybe strikes a chord.
I've often wondered about whether a marriage has to be sanctioned legally by a government before it is recognised with God. I still don't know what I think about this. Obviously, its just the pattern that people get married legally in this country but in other cultures it isn't so.
In some parts of Africa, there isn't the same sort of legality and its often a very different kind of arrangement. It can be a challenge to translate that into our cultures.
I think the marriage happens when the covenant is made. The covenant is ratified when the two become one through sexual union.
Yes...its a curious old thing and I think all the culture that has built up around marriage has made it a difficult thing to sustain without the solid understanding and concept of covenant.
Thanks for these thoughts.
Andrew
Postita kommentaar
<< Home