Marriage Moats- The Covenant- Part 2
Published: Sat, 06/02/12
| Marriage Moats | Caring for Marriage | ||||
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 Mona and Harvey were waiting outside Rev. Soneson's office. There was quiet music playing. Harvey held a manilla folder in his hands. He opened it to look at it, although he could have recited the contents. They had written and rewritten the document for three weeks.
"We the undersigned make a covenant with Mona Brown and Harvey Smith, to participate in the continual growth and protection of their marriage. This covenant binds us together like one body all working for the common goal of sustaining a healthy marriage in the image and likeness of God. We will be the bones when we offer support, the arms when we give comfort, the ears when we listen, the mouth when we communicate, the immune system when we grapple with dis-ease, the brain when we learn new wisdom and the heart when we act in love. This is a marriage that is holy to each of us and we will fight to protect it with the same fervor that we would unleash if either of you were in a house on fire, or were being attacked by armed robbers. Your marriage is worth protecting from burning anger and resentment and your love deserves heroic efforts to be kept safe."
I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take
the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. -Ezekiel 36
Eight signatures were proudly set in black ink. Their parents had been surprised and eager to be included in a meaningful way. Both couples loved their children deeply, and cherished great hopes for this sweet union. Mona's mother had put an extra flourish on her name, and Harvey's mother had cried as she took the pen in her fingers. Harvey's father had signed in very large letters, remembering John Hancock's comment when he wrote his name on the Constitution. Even God would be able to read this from heaven. Mona's father had been silently grateful for a chance to bring a measure of healing to the family he had let crumble.
The couple they had asked to mentor them was delighted to be a part of this contract, and looked forward to regular chances to meet for coffee, or have them for dinner. Laura and Frank had been married for almost forty years, and their joy in a ripened marriage spilled out like the fruit at a farmer's market before the customers arrive. What people did not know, however, was that they had weathered hard times... graduate school, poverty, living in three countries, health issues and a baby who died shortly after birth. These were the experiences that they would share gradually, one small slice at a time. There was no hurry to smash all their advice into one sitting. They had made a promise to be an ongoing part of this relationship.
The canned music shifted to the song by Ben Folds, The Luckiest. Harvey smiled and mouthed the words to Mona who held his hands tighter. The blood circulation thing was happening again, when Rev. Soneson opened the door and invited them into his office.
to be continued... Photo by Jenny Stein
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