lifesong
Everyone needs compassion
Love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations
Saviour, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
Shine your light in
Let the whole world see
We're singing, for the glory
Of the risen King
Jesus, Shine your light in
Let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory
Of the risen king
Friday, November 25, 2005
-1:16 pm
Today's motion: Marrying a person would not change a thing about how his/her feelings for you.
Opposition (Speaker 1): This House believes that marriage would change the feelings of a person towards his/her fiancee/fiance.
Firstly, let us expound the definition of marriage. According to the Merriam-Webster's definition, it is:
1 a : the state of being married
b : the mutual relation of husband and wife
c : the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family
2 : an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
3 : an intimate or close union.
However, we cannot merely rely on politically correct definitions to fully elucidate the complex concept of marriage. How about the more intangible aspects of marriage like the strength of a loving relationship? It is indeed a difficult concept to grasp and comprehend. Nevertheless, we shall attempt to extract as much of its meaning in order to arrive at the understanding that marriage does change one's feeling towards another.
As much as marriage is a legal declaration and contract, it is also about showing your other half how serious you are about him/her, a lifelong commitment in which you pledge to love each other "till death do us part". It might sound so idealistic but in reality, faithful marriages do exist (i.e. they really love each other till death does them part, unlike those short-lived/shotgun celebrity marriages).
If a man proposes to woman, it shows that he is ready for the commitment, would only love her for the rest of his life and desires to spend the rest of his days with her. Instead of remaining indifferent, her love for him would be in fact strengthened and the relationship would progress to another level, to become more intimate, more serious and more readily committed. If he isn't ready, he would not be able to broach the subject of marriage because it entails commitment and total faithfulness to only one woman.
To say the two words "I do" at the altar requires immense courage, confidence in both oneself and one's partner, and of course, a strong, compelling love for the other half. Marriage, like the words of the pledge both man and wife would say, would mean still loving your spouse despite all odds, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. This would indeed test one's love for his/her husband/wife, when both are called to face different challenges which will threaten to dissolve or dilute one's love for the other. Being able to endure the storms of married life would definitely fortify a relationship as the couple faces life's journey together as each other's soulmate.
We must be careful not to reduce marriage to just a technical term used to describe the status of one's love life. Most people see marriage as a political and social institution, by which people are conveniently defined in terms of family, personal status, and whether one would be eligible to apply for citizenship on behalf of a foreign bride etc, etc. However, we must bear in mind that marriage is not primarily an institution, but more importantly, a tangible manifestation of a couple's love for each other.
The big C-word COMMITMENT cannot be avoided. But once it is embraced by both husband and wife, it is really the bond that cements their relationship, the fuel that drives the relationship through the rough journey of life, the wings that enables it to soar to new heights, leading to a truly loving, mutually edifying friendship which makes life worth living.
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