Marriages are made in heaven if spirituality is the beacon. That is probably why people who marry for the sake of marrying without knowing the true meaning of marriage in the context of spirituality often end up in a divorce.
Ever think why in England, you need a licence to marry, to own a dog or to own a gun? It is because they all involve 'dangerous' or hazardous activities (See Jeffrey W's Rentakkini piece, 'Warning: Marriage is hazardous to men', Aug 23).
On a more serious note, I think that every person must decide for himself or herself whether to get married. It is a great responsibility, but it can bring much happiness, if you really love someone.
Jeffrey W has in his article unearthed that marriage is in our own hands. It is we who decide the destiny of our marriage life with the guidance of God. He touched on three confounding issues of humanity, namely sex (a biological reaction), marriage (a social obligation) and religion (a spiritual guidance).
In order to communicate with each other better, we should try to spend as much time with people who can enrich our lives, and we do not have to spend a lot of money to do this.
No doubt by loving one's mate more than oneself is a key to initiate a happy marriage. But it can only initiate it and not preserve it throughout the end.
Marriage is equally amazing. It is not as simple as one plus one equals two. Nor we are too naive to think that the conjugation of the two individuals will contribute to the fulfillment of the social obligation as expected, namely to procreate, nurture and educate the next generation.
If sex, as far as human being is concerned, is for recreation and as a way to foster an intimate relationship with one's spouse, then the task to procreate and nurture the next generation is no doubt a true hardship. But it is through this hardship that we learn to love more and more and to taste the sweetness of the fruit we bear.
On the other hand, religion is a hybrid of ritual, mysticism, philosophy (theology) and spirituality. As the writer has pointed out, it has gone a long way to rein in and to tame the sexual imperative of man. As a result, some choose to marry as required by religion, although they are fully aware of the responsibility in marriage.
Others choose to devote themselves to spirituality in celibacy, although they are well informed of the sacrifices they have to undergo. This is to ensure them to have more time and energy to contribute to humanity with no discrimination of sex.
All of these (marriage or celibacy) are part and parcel of the teachings of religions, albeit some religions (like Islam and the Protestant Christianity) do not institutionalise celibacy like Buddhism and Catholicism. However, celibacy for some is truly a heaven than a marriage-sexual life.
As a whole, if we want a happy sexual and marriage life, we must appreciate what spirituality means in the context of humanity. Spirituality cannot be separated from humanity, nor can sex and marriage.
