The Washington Post Metro section today reports on a beautiful occasion: 500 couples -- count'em, 500 -- couples coming together to renew their wedding vows. Not just after 2 years, or 10 years, but after (at least) 25 years of marriage. The paper reports that fully one-half of the couples present had been married for half a century.
The WHOLE STORY.
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"So, Ray said, they had an agreement. "Never go to bed mad and always kiss and make up," he said. "And when you get up in the morning, say, 'I love you.'"
That statement, although not as easy as it seems, but if lived out, could have most $100 an hour pop psychologist/marriage counselors back flippin' burgers at Mickey D's (O:
It's worked vvery well for Lady Athos and myself for 28 years.
Bailie calls lifelong monogamy the greatest adventure human beings can experience. Full agreement!
BTW and FYI, I take absolutely no credit for the above. Providence apparently takes pity on drunks and fools, as they say (pick one).
I would like to agree and yet it seems to me Bailie is setting up a mimetic trap of some sort by designating marriage a greater human "adventure" than celibate (chaste) life.
If you mean that Bailie is setting up a trap of mimetic rivals, I would agree, Aramis. We know that both vows of marriage and vows of religious celibacy are both capable of being nuptial if carried through faithfully.
I would say, though, that merely being single and chaste is not qualitatively as much of an adventure as living out one's nuptial vows (either as a priest/religious or a devoted married couple. Both the latter, if vows are faithfully lived, give rise to births of children and/or spiritual children. I think of my spiritual director at Holy Cross Abbey - how many spiritual sons and daughter he has engendered!
There is room to quibble with what I have said, but I know too many young and formerly-young adults who simply won't commit and do so selfishly: they just don't want to be "tied down." Even chaste singles can't quite have the adventure that those living out their nuptial vows (either as religious or maried couples), IMO.
I know, I know, but... Do you have to "commit" to married or religious life then to experience an adventurous and full life?
In slightly different context this seems related to my "issue" about spiritual direction. It seems that for Catholics spiritual direction must come from religious - that lay people, as spiritual directors are second-class and lack necessary qualities to be good at spiritual direction. Though I have seen a religious as my spiritual director for years, it is virtually impossible for someone in this area to have a religious spiritual director (there are so few who aren't totally booked full). In my pre-conversion background I have experience with a number of wonderful lay people who made great spiritual directors, but since my conversion I have been advised by Catholics that SD should come from religious. This keeps me from looking into spiritual direction because if I were to go into spiritual direction it would be to hopefully walk with other Catholics on their spiritual journeys.
As one trying to discern my true vocation, I don't really think of either as "better", but which one I am better suited (designed) for.
Peace
Good to have you around, Monk. If you keep up this level of involvement, you might have to break down and go D'Artagnan on us. (After a suitable Girardian initiation, of course. Nothing too drastic; just a little "Thank you, sir, may I have another" action.)
Um, I was once a bricklayer, as well as a DJ at an infamous Heavy Metal club.
So bring it on (O:
I do fear that I might need to recharge my IQ, as y'all are some smart fellas (O:
I have just the thing, Monk: come September, I'll invite you and Dawn to one of Gil Bailie's Emmaus Road Initiative Saturday a.m. gatherings to meet him and hear more about Girard, etc.
Gil says the ERI may move from Washington Theological Union (Takoma Park) to Catholic U. That ought to be easy for us all (fingers crossed).
Sound okay?
but at least Takoma Park is a nuclear free zone (O:
come September, you'll get yours . . .as in Berger Cookies, that is (O:
Got a propensity for kidney stones, old chap. I'll check the list for Bergers -- gotta be careful re: carbohydrates. Bring'um and pass'um around anyhoo.
Isn't it in September when Takoma Park has their annual Folk Fest? I was there a couple years ago...
In my six years in NoVA I've never partaken. Is it like a Renaissance Fair -- that odor of neo-paganism wafting around with a lot of pierced folk mingling with the Birkenstock crowd?
The first time I ever attended, the wonderful woman I was dating at the time happened to be wearing a t-shirt with an old Mustang Spitfire on it (I gave it to her'cause her dad always called her his lil' Spitfire).
She commented at how many people gave her dirty looks for wearing a "military" shirt (O:
As for the fest, a lot of fun music, and occasionally a Christian artist.
Yeah, the Takoma Park Festival is a mix - they have several stages with music from all around the world going on. Some of it is as you could expect, but really, they do have a good mix.
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