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A Christian
Thought for the Month - June 2012
Thoughts for believers & seekers
Thought for the Month -
The Possibility of Relationship
Gen 2:24 a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife
Whether royalist or republican, few watchers of the Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of this month can have missed the sense of sorrow when the Duke of Edinburgh was laid aside in hospital with a bladder infection. It wasn’t so much sorrow for the loss of this elderly man, but sorrow on behalf of the Queen who had to carry on without him beside her at a variety of significant events in the days following his entry to hospital.
Back in 2007 the Queen said of him, “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.” The truth of that must have made his absence from beside her even more tangible in the days of the week following the Thames pageant where he took such a visible position alongside her in the hours of that event on the Thames. Performing royal activities alone is nothing new for either of them, for they often follow different paths, but this week at the beginning of the month must have been one where they would have especially valued each other’s presence at so significant events as were planned in the celebrations.
Commentators on the royal family are not slow to point out that he’s not always an easy man to have around, and the lifestyle they both endure must be one of the most demanding on such a relationship. Yet this couple have almost become modern icons for a stable relationship. Seeing the Queen participating in the events of Monday and Tuesday of the celebrations, without Philip alongside her, caused many to comment on what she must have been feeling.
These things, I have found, have stirred thoughts about relationships in my mind - and no doubt in the minds of many of us. We live in an age when a relationship such as the one we have been considering seems somewhat rare. Relationships today seem so fragile by comparison to this one which has weathered the years in the face of stresses and strains or work, travel and family disappointments. Relationships today, it seems, at the slightest of pressures seem to fly apart. Relationships today that do part so easily, do so with so little thought to the consequences and, especially, of who will be hurt along the way.
The Bible is full of material about how to maintain good relationships. The most fundamental human relationship spoken of is that of husband and wife. When that early verse from Genesis refers to the man being ‘united’ with his wife, most commentators understand it to mean more than just a physical joining - although that is a key part of it. The unity that is envisaged is one of mind and spirit as well as body. The unity of mind refers to a lifetime commitment, a purposeful decision that, come hell or high water - or as the marriage service so often says, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health” - we will stick together! I sure that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have had their struggles through the years, but there they still are and thus declaring to the rest of us, it is possible!
How many women in our society today struggle with the heart-ache of being abandoned by the man who once stood alongside them and made vows, even if it was the most simple, “I love you” or the more complex form found in the marriage service? How many children wonder why they do not have a father, or why they have a replacement father?
When Jesus Christ was being attacked by antagonistic opponents in his day, they challenged him over what he felt about divorce. His reply is uncomfortable. He said that God permitted divorce in the Law of Moses because He knew their hearts were hard. In other words it was a second best which was permitted when people resisted any help in their marriage and choose to reject their partner and walk away. It is always a sign of failure, failure on the part of all concerned and that includes the church or society at large that is so often not there for those who are struggling in their relationships. One day we may look back on this period and wonder how we allowed ourselves and our society to permit so much pain for so many, without having done more to help.
In the meantime we gaze at this aged couple who stand against the tide of popular experience in so many ways and wonder, and then hope that their recently married grandson and his beautiful wife will similarly buck the trend and still be standing shoulder to shoulder in some sixty years time.
Gen 2:24 a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife
Whether royalist or republican, few watchers of the Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of this month can have missed the sense of sorrow when the Duke of Edinburgh was laid aside in hospital with a bladder infection. It wasn’t so much sorrow for the loss of this elderly man, but sorrow on behalf of the Queen who had to carry on without him beside her at a variety of significant events in the days following his entry to hospital.
Back in 2007 the Queen said of him, “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.” The truth of that must have made his absence from beside her even more tangible in the days of the week following the Thames pageant where he took such a visible position alongside her in the hours of that event on the Thames. Performing royal activities alone is nothing new for either of them, for they often follow different paths, but this week at the beginning of the month must have been one where they would have especially valued each other’s presence at so significant events as were planned in the celebrations.
Commentators on the royal family are not slow to point out that he’s not always an easy man to have around, and the lifestyle they both endure must be one of the most demanding on such a relationship. Yet this couple have almost become modern icons for a stable relationship. Seeing the Queen participating in the events of Monday and Tuesday of the celebrations, without Philip alongside her, caused many to comment on what she must have been feeling.
These things, I have found, have stirred thoughts about relationships in my mind -
The Bible is full of material about how to maintain good relationships. The most fundamental human relationship spoken of is that of husband and wife. When that early verse from Genesis refers to the man being ‘united’ with his wife, most commentators understand it to mean more than just a physical joining -
How many women in our society today struggle with the heart-
When Jesus Christ was being attacked by antagonistic opponents in his day, they challenged him over what he felt about divorce. His reply is uncomfortable. He said that God permitted divorce in the Law of Moses because He knew their hearts were hard. In other words it was a second best which was permitted when people resisted any help in their marriage and choose to reject their partner and walk away. It is always a sign of failure, failure on the part of all concerned and that includes the church or society at large that is so often not there for those who are struggling in their relationships. One day we may look back on this period and wonder how we allowed ourselves and our society to permit so much pain for so many, without having done more to help.
In the meantime we gaze at this aged couple who stand against the tide of popular experience in so many ways and wonder, and then hope that their recently married grandson and his beautiful wife will similarly buck the trend and still be standing shoulder to shoulder in some sixty years time.