Lifelong intimacy defines the sexuality of its partners and the partnership that we call marriage.
A man known for his prowess was asked how he would define great sexuality. His answer was, “A man who enjoys a lifelong intimacy with one woman and a woman who is satisfied to reciprocate over that same lifetime.”
The world we live in is so transient, so dispensable. In the US it is quite commonplace for people to buy new electronic equipment instead of repairing what is broken, because the cost of repairing is prohibitive. That suggests that the cost of maintenance or sustainability is no longer viable. The cost of preserving the world and fixing what breaks is less relevant than the value of pumping out new products that further diminish the life expectancy of the planet.
In many first world countries sell-by food that would feed the teeming millions dying all over the planet is deliberately trashed to avoid any litigation that might arise out of the consumption of such food by charities. Wow, so we are happy to waste away and do nothing to reinvest in the world that has provided us with so much. Indeed, George Bush reneged on environmental protocols because he felt that progress was more important to his constituencies than preservation is to the future of our children.
Thus we live our lives every day, happy with new things until the novelty wears off. Then we dispose or trade in the old for something newer, because we are victims of pervasive advertising. So we will have nice little novelties that gurgle and smile whilst they are infants and then reject them when the real cost of maintaining children starts to impact on our selfish little lives. Or we proudly walk the aisle and make promises, for the sake of tradition, with every intention of making a marriage last until the novelty wears off and a newer model becomes available.
There is no fulfillment in any of that. It is a great delusion. People abandon great causes for almost nothing, trading their birthrights for measly morsels.
Hey, I am no theorist. I cannot share my own pains in deference to others I care for, but take it from me that I have paid a big price to stay married. But in doing so I have found a deepening affection and trust for someone that will eventually have to share her love for me in very basic and practical ways, in between shifts of baby sitting for the legacy we hope to leave in the earth. We have scars and wounds aplenty, but shared memories that are so worth preserving.
Marriage is not for sissies. It probably does more to define a real man and a real woman than any other activity known to humans. It is the stuff of everyday heroism and real character. To they that overcome will be given surpassing rewards and a level of intimacy that will become more fulfilling with each passing year.
As Winston Churchill once said, “Never give up. Never, never, never give up.” He only fought a world war, but when we fight for our marriages, our fight has eternal implications.
© Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com
A man known for his prowess was asked how he would define great sexuality. His answer was, “A man who enjoys a lifelong intimacy with one woman and a woman who is satisfied to reciprocate over that same lifetime.”
The world we live in is so transient, so dispensable. In the US it is quite commonplace for people to buy new electronic equipment instead of repairing what is broken, because the cost of repairing is prohibitive. That suggests that the cost of maintenance or sustainability is no longer viable. The cost of preserving the world and fixing what breaks is less relevant than the value of pumping out new products that further diminish the life expectancy of the planet.
In many first world countries sell-by food that would feed the teeming millions dying all over the planet is deliberately trashed to avoid any litigation that might arise out of the consumption of such food by charities. Wow, so we are happy to waste away and do nothing to reinvest in the world that has provided us with so much. Indeed, George Bush reneged on environmental protocols because he felt that progress was more important to his constituencies than preservation is to the future of our children.
Thus we live our lives every day, happy with new things until the novelty wears off. Then we dispose or trade in the old for something newer, because we are victims of pervasive advertising. So we will have nice little novelties that gurgle and smile whilst they are infants and then reject them when the real cost of maintaining children starts to impact on our selfish little lives. Or we proudly walk the aisle and make promises, for the sake of tradition, with every intention of making a marriage last until the novelty wears off and a newer model becomes available.
There is no fulfillment in any of that. It is a great delusion. People abandon great causes for almost nothing, trading their birthrights for measly morsels.
Hey, I am no theorist. I cannot share my own pains in deference to others I care for, but take it from me that I have paid a big price to stay married. But in doing so I have found a deepening affection and trust for someone that will eventually have to share her love for me in very basic and practical ways, in between shifts of baby sitting for the legacy we hope to leave in the earth. We have scars and wounds aplenty, but shared memories that are so worth preserving.
Marriage is not for sissies. It probably does more to define a real man and a real woman than any other activity known to humans. It is the stuff of everyday heroism and real character. To they that overcome will be given surpassing rewards and a level of intimacy that will become more fulfilling with each passing year.
As Winston Churchill once said, “Never give up. Never, never, never give up.” He only fought a world war, but when we fight for our marriages, our fight has eternal implications.
© Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com
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