Marriage Moats-Faithful

Published: Sun, 09/09/12

Marriage Moats

Caring for Marriage

I went to CVS again. Always a dangerous proposition. If the person behind the counter does not serve me instantly my eyes are hydroplaned toward the brazen covers of magazines that widen the gorge between my life and success. Clearly if your picture is splashed across millions of copies of a rag that sells in every store in the country, you are a success. That is if your goal in life is getting your picture on a magazine whose shelf life is about three weeks.

I wonder what success actually looks like. There is an elderly woman I see every Wednesday who has enough love for everyone in her life. She has been a widow for a long time but she still tears up when she talks about her husband. She makes me laugh, and listens like she means it. Maybe that is success.

There is a couple who have weathered the death of a child, and took turns being the needy one. They have repurposed their grief into serving others. Maybe that is success.

I know a woman whose marriage is not what she was expecting. Table banter is brief, leaving her mouth full and her heart hungry. But she shows up every night, peering into the eyes of the man who wiggles just out of reach. But she is still married. Maybe that is success.

Then again, maybe success was the wrong goal post all along.

God has not called us to be successful. He has called us to be faithful. Mother Teresa

Photo by Jenny Stein

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