Musing – What is the purpose of marriage?...and an announcement!

Hebraic Musing – What is the purpose of marriage?...and an announcement!

Why am I so anxious to re-marry after having lost my wife to the Perfect Husband earlier this year?

This announcement is a preface to this Musing.  Irene and I will be married October 13th at First Baptist Church of Downers Grove, IL. We were sweethearts at J.S.Morton High School in Cicero, IL, 58 years ago. We lost track of each other for 57 years and meanwhile we each have had awesome marriages. Alas we both had our loved ones go home to the Lord early this year. Irene found my e-address in the alumni directory, sent me a 'what's happening' e-mail and it quickly became obvious that God has arranged this wedding in His perfect timing. I am trying to find an adjective stronger than 'incredible' because there is even more to this incredulous story.

The challenge we both faced is the issue of loneliness. What is the cure for loneliness?  Jesus said “Be servant of all” in Mark 9:35.   Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

I am struck by Jesus’ admonition to serve one another and this all had to do with the question of who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Since marriage is all about sharing (a lesson we were supposed to learn in kindergarten), I wonder if sharing could be the cure for loneliness?  Rabbi Eckstein summarized a rabbinical midrash from Rabbi Haim(1):

Many years ago, someone wrote a cute, but telling, version of heaven and hell. The Lord shows a man hell. The man sees a room where a group of people sit around a huge pot of stew, but everyone is famished. Each person has a spoon, but none of them have elbows, making it impossible to get the soup into their mouths. The suffering is horrible.
Next, God shows the man heaven. The room is exactly the same – big pot of stew, plenty of spoons, and no elbows. But here, the people are well fed and happy.
“I don’t understand,” the man says to the Lord. “Why are they happy here when everyone in the other room was miserable”?
The Lord smiles and says, “Because here, they have learned to feed each other”.

Q. - So why am I anxious to re-marry?
A. - I need to share my life; and I am thrilled at the opportunity to serve someone as close as a spouse.

Point to ponder

Why does sharing make us feel so good?

Shalom                                                                                    September 25, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd