Inspiration
It has been
said that there are two kinds of marriages: marriage American style and
marriage Oriental style. Marriage
American style is like putting a boiling kettle of water on a gas stove
that is turned off and letting it cool off.
Marriage Oriental style is like putting a cold tea kettle on a gas
stove that is turned on and letting the fire heat it slowly until it
boils.
The flame of love in marriage is
Christ. Marriage American style
relies too much on its own emotions.
The flame of Christ is not even turned on. The relationship soon cools off and
dies. Marriage Christian style does
not rely so much on human emotions.
It is more like marriage Oriental style. It places itself close to the flame of
Christ, the source of love, and through His grace our relationship grows
warmer and warmer, stronger and stronger, as the years go on. I like the Eskimo proverb, which says,
“Love comes after marriage.”
I close with this:
One woman listed the things
she and her husband didn’t have in common:
He is quiet; she is noisy.
He is undemonstrative; she is
effusive.
He likes to go to bed early;
she likes to stay up late.
He likes classical music; she
likes jazz.
He is careful and meticulous;
she is careless and absent minded.
He hates to talk problems out;
she wants to discuss everything.
But one entry cancels out all
the others: he loves her; she loves him.
That kind of love does not grow
on trees. It is a fruit of the Holy
Spirit in us. It is a plant that
demands constant attention, constant watering, constant
feeding. But it is the most
beautiful of all plants. For “God is
love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I
John 4:16)
Taken from Crown Them
with Glory and Honor, 46 Brief Talks for Weddings by Rev. Anthony M.
Coniaris, Light & Life Publishing Co., 1985
