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a couple of months ago, the cover story of Time magazine was titled, “who needs marriage? a changing institution” …and it shared the results of a new pew research center study on how, as a nation, our attitudes toward marriage have changed over the past fifty years.
the author made the following statement:
“When an institution so central to human experience suddenly changes shape in the space of a generation or two, it’s worth trying to figure out why… what we found is that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual, or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be.”
and the article backs up that statement. i’m not going to summarize the article or the study for you. you should read them for yourself.
i’m not one to get overly uptight about statistical findings or alarmed by analysis of trends, but some of the realities painted in the articles deeply sadden me.
and make me ask the question: does your marriage serve a greater purpose? do you see your marriage as necessary?
and if you see your marriage as necessary, what is it necessary for? is marriage part of a bigger picture…a grander plan…than just your personal happiness or creation of your own personal family unit?
practically speaking, is your marriage communicating something? does your marriage carry a responsibility for the greater good? do you sense that your marriage is connected to a larger picture than simply what you get out of it?
maybe it’s time we start seeing our lives and our marriages and our schedules and our money and our possessions and our families…our entire existence…as part of something with a more timeless significance.
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