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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-08, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012. PAGE 13. By Rev. Gary Clark Blyth United Church I had fully intended to submit an article on community planning and the faith that takes but the article from Citizen writer Denny Scott kept nagging at me. In case you missed it, Denny took issue with Pastor Ernest Dow’s article in the “From the Minister’s Study” section of the previous week. It had to do with marriage as being the only faithful option to ‘shacking up.’ First I am friends with both Denny and Pastor Ernest. I know them to speak their minds and do it with grace. So God knows why I would want to get in between these two but I do, so here goes. First, marriage as we know it in the church has changed over the last 3,000 plus years of ‘recorded history.’ In that span it has rarely been a union of emotional love and for many hundreds of years it was between a man and his wives (plural, not singular). Even today there are faith groups which still favour polygamy. As a Christian I look to the Bible for guidance but I do not presume to hear its wisdom without engaging my own brain. For example I do not believe as a parent I should send off a servant, not even a trusted one, to find my children a spouse (Genesis 24). Nor would I take as an example of marriage King David or King Soloman who had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Pastor Ernest and I would differ on what the wisdom from the scriptures on marriage would mean for us today. I believe for example that many of the times Jesus spoke out against divorce and in favour of staying married was to protect women from men who had taken their family’s dowry, used them and wanted to toss them aside. Jesus spoke against this practice. Bottom line I see the necessity of marriage and even what marriage might mean differently than my brother in Christ. That would seem to put me in Denny’s camp but I don’t agree with him either. Sorry Denny, you can not get a zero per cent divorce rate just by insisting folks live together before marriage. Actually in my experience those who live together for a long time (over 10 years) who finally get married are divorced within a year or two. In those cases marriage wasn’t a logical next step after “test driving” the relationship. Rather marriage was a way to try and save the long-term relationship without working on why the relationship was having trouble in the first place. And as for ‘the save the money’ from a wedding and put it into a house argument, that’s weak. I noticed that in the same week your article appeared, the middle section of this paper, pages 13-22, advertised weddings and how to do it right. Not once is the option to do it on the cheap forgoing expensive gowns, rented tuxedos or exotic honeymoons mentioned. Saving money is not a good reason for not getting married. So where does that lead me? Well, I acknowledge that there are many divorced people out there (and I am one) and there are a lot of folks living together. So my first thought is that the church and I believe Jesus walks with everyone on the journey to find love, loyalty, laughter, honesty and health intimacy. For a goodly number of us, that didn’t last the first time around and we are by no means pleased about that fact. So we need the church to reach out to us with understanding as I believe Jesus has reached out to me. Then I would ask when did marriage get such a bad rap? So many are afraid to enter into it lest they become enemies with the person they care enough about to share a bed and bathroom? There is the issue. What marriage has come to mean is the first step towards a painful and expensive divorce or worse a lifetime of unhappiness. Marriage for Christians is about finding a person with whom you are completely yourself. Within that kind of accepting relationship we are free to grow and know, both ourselves, and our ‘lover’ more deeply. So marriage is about celebrating that you have found a lover of your soul and not just your body. This leads me to the reason we would bring God into the mix of the ceremony called a wedding. And that is because this is the kind of relationship God wishes to have with us. A relationship of honesty and trust where we have the courage to discover ourselves and God in a richer and deeper way. I would go so far as to say that when you have found a true lover that you have found a very important part of the living Christ. St. Augustine wrote, “Our whole business in this life is to restore to health the eyes of the heart, whereby God may be seen.” Where better to restore the eyes of the heart than in intimate relationships? Marriage then becomes a celebration of love, of trust, of hope and that with each THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, March 11 Brussels Public School at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 Chris McMichael 519.482.1644 BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, March 11 Ethel United Church Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. Brussels United Church Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, MARCH 11 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available 519-887-9017 10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School 250 Princess St., Brussels Pastor Brent Kipfer 519-887-6388 www.bmfchurch.com Guests Welcome Jesus Is Lord! Worship Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:15 am Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 MARCH 11 ~ Trust is Life’s Oxygen MARCH 18 ~ If Charged With Being a Christian, Would There Be Evidence to Convict You? You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH St. Michael’s Cemetery Board will be meeting on Sunday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. at the residence of Mary & Maurice Hallahan 84407 Currie Line All previous parishioners of the former St. Michael’s parish are welcome. 119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131 www.huronchapel.org Rev. Mark Royall, Sr. Pastor 9:25 a.m. Sunday School for all ages 10:30 a.m Morning Worship Service What To Do When Life Hurts Sermon Series continues with The Growth Choice! March Break Adventure Game-A-Palooza Wednesday, March 14th 1:00 - 4:30 pm at HCEMC Dress like your favourite board game and come out for lots of fun, crafts, snacks, music and much more. getlivingwater.org Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Living Water Christian Fellowship March 11: Mark 9:38-50 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Bible Study 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women At The Well Evangelical Missionary Church “Jesus’ Name’s Reward vs Sin’s Dastardliness” March 9, 7:30 pm World Day of Prayer at Blyth United Church From the Minister’s StudyMarriage brings no guarantees: Clark Continued on page 19