Well, I ran into my ex-wife a few days ago from a civil marriage in 2016. I've been concerned since her health was not the greatest, so I was very relieved to see her. But, we were not happy together and the plan of hoping for the best and just letting life and love take it's course to overcome loneliness, trusting that we would grow closer and fall in love, turned out to be stormy seas (we were neighbors in an apartment building). We had a few good times, though, and after a year of wondering how she was doing, we hugged each other in the grocery store line. That was a form of Christian love, reaching a point of forgiving each other enough to speak to one another and share a hug.
But, I think the thread here was trying to find some answers as to what is true romantic marital eternal love between one man and one woman. A relationship where someone doesn't say after 20 or 30 years, "I don't love you anymore."
The Christian movie, "Fireproof," was a good one about finding love in a marriage again.
I'm not Catholic and am not endorsing the Catholic Church, but they have a good way of defining marriage while trying to honor the Bible's high calling for marriage. If someone wants to get a divorce, they will look at the relationship and determine if there was "sacramental" love, which is what confirms a marriage in Catholic tradition. Not sure how they determine this, but it's mostly about if a loving, peaceful relationship was present from the beginning. If not, they will annul the marriage. In other cases, I've heard that even unmarried couples will qualify for "sacramental love" being present, and they will not annul the relationship.
So, divine love is what marries people, but, a true marriage must also be confirmed legally-- church and state, in Christian tradition.
Lafftur brought up a good issue in saying that God wants church leadership to be about the Kingdom of God, and not dealing with a bunch of women.
I have to put in my two cents worth here, and last month, that's exactly what I had left in my bank account--Zero balance with 2 cents in savings. This is one reason why I am sitting in an almost empty grocery store lounge at midnight alone by the fireplace, writing about all my expertness on relationships. But, I heard a good Christian radio show just before mother's day. Dr. Meg was saying that women need friendships with other women, because they can't expect their husbands to understand them. She said that women "get each other," and can empathize with one another, and she has to wear a cap when her husband comes home from work that says, "how are you?" on it, because her husband is so dumb that he just doesn't remember to ask her because his mind is still on work.
Those weren't her exact words, but, she has a point and psychologists are just too smart. If they are a lady, a Christian, AND a psychologist, that makes them pretty darn scary. But, she's right. Women do get relationships much more than men--That's just their gift, in the traditional sense. Which makes them closer to the heart of God, most of the time, because, as I heard one pastor say once: "Jesus came to save our hearts and souls," not our minds alone. And somehow, He managed to love a bunch of women at once, who were the real heroes if you read the Bible, who He relied on the most. His mother, and Mary Magdalene to name two. But, only Peter, James and John, went with Him up the mountain. Somehow, He managed to find the perfect balance of the roles of men and women in the church.
I know very little about true love, except that we need God's help to get there. The country song by Chris Young has a good way of saying it: "I've spent my whole life, gettin' it all wrong..."
But, divine love, when I can experience glimpses of it, is much more powerful than the things of the world that many people rely on, and can be reluctant to set aside. It's a lot like walking on water, and most of my time is spent on just staring at the seas, and not wanting to toss the life-preservers, the valium, or whatever might be the case.
Or just sitting on the edge of the boat, writing about it alone by a fireplace...
Too many words again...
But, I managed to deliver a bunch of flowers to a bunch of women for mother's day.
And I wept for my mother visiting a Catholic church with a Catholic friend named Mary [middle name and last].
The Lord comforted me when I reached for a prayer card--my mother's first name was on it.
And today, I was thinking about mother's day, and have been grieving about deserting her, not being able to face her suffering last days. Her favorite birds were Robins.
As I sat in my car overlooking a lake today, a Robin hopped up next to my car and visited with me for a while.
I'll try and post the iphone video and picture as soon as I get back to where I am living over the mountains.
So, I guess I know how to love birds...
"Consider the birds..."
I think that's the answer...
But, I think the thread here was trying to find some answers as to what is true romantic marital eternal love between one man and one woman. A relationship where someone doesn't say after 20 or 30 years, "I don't love you anymore."
The Christian movie, "Fireproof," was a good one about finding love in a marriage again.
I'm not Catholic and am not endorsing the Catholic Church, but they have a good way of defining marriage while trying to honor the Bible's high calling for marriage. If someone wants to get a divorce, they will look at the relationship and determine if there was "sacramental" love, which is what confirms a marriage in Catholic tradition. Not sure how they determine this, but it's mostly about if a loving, peaceful relationship was present from the beginning. If not, they will annul the marriage. In other cases, I've heard that even unmarried couples will qualify for "sacramental love" being present, and they will not annul the relationship.
So, divine love is what marries people, but, a true marriage must also be confirmed legally-- church and state, in Christian tradition.
Lafftur brought up a good issue in saying that God wants church leadership to be about the Kingdom of God, and not dealing with a bunch of women.
I have to put in my two cents worth here, and last month, that's exactly what I had left in my bank account--Zero balance with 2 cents in savings. This is one reason why I am sitting in an almost empty grocery store lounge at midnight alone by the fireplace, writing about all my expertness on relationships. But, I heard a good Christian radio show just before mother's day. Dr. Meg was saying that women need friendships with other women, because they can't expect their husbands to understand them. She said that women "get each other," and can empathize with one another, and she has to wear a cap when her husband comes home from work that says, "how are you?" on it, because her husband is so dumb that he just doesn't remember to ask her because his mind is still on work.
Those weren't her exact words, but, she has a point and psychologists are just too smart. If they are a lady, a Christian, AND a psychologist, that makes them pretty darn scary. But, she's right. Women do get relationships much more than men--That's just their gift, in the traditional sense. Which makes them closer to the heart of God, most of the time, because, as I heard one pastor say once: "Jesus came to save our hearts and souls," not our minds alone. And somehow, He managed to love a bunch of women at once, who were the real heroes if you read the Bible, who He relied on the most. His mother, and Mary Magdalene to name two. But, only Peter, James and John, went with Him up the mountain. Somehow, He managed to find the perfect balance of the roles of men and women in the church.
I know very little about true love, except that we need God's help to get there. The country song by Chris Young has a good way of saying it: "I've spent my whole life, gettin' it all wrong..."
But, divine love, when I can experience glimpses of it, is much more powerful than the things of the world that many people rely on, and can be reluctant to set aside. It's a lot like walking on water, and most of my time is spent on just staring at the seas, and not wanting to toss the life-preservers, the valium, or whatever might be the case.
Or just sitting on the edge of the boat, writing about it alone by a fireplace...
Too many words again...
But, I managed to deliver a bunch of flowers to a bunch of women for mother's day.
And I wept for my mother visiting a Catholic church with a Catholic friend named Mary [middle name and last].
The Lord comforted me when I reached for a prayer card--my mother's first name was on it.
And today, I was thinking about mother's day, and have been grieving about deserting her, not being able to face her suffering last days. Her favorite birds were Robins.
As I sat in my car overlooking a lake today, a Robin hopped up next to my car and visited with me for a while.
I'll try and post the iphone video and picture as soon as I get back to where I am living over the mountains.
So, I guess I know how to love birds...
"Consider the birds..."
I think that's the answer...
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