Divorce Equality?

Now that we have marriage equality, should we expect the divorce rate to fall?

But from the beginning of creation, "God made them male and female." "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.' - Mark 10:6-9

In today's Gospel, Jesus takes a hard line against divorce, praising marriage as a one-time, permanent coupling of man and woman.

This was controversial at the time, when many were obtaining divorces under the law, Moses' law, given to them to appease them, according to Jesus.

In an effort to keep the faithful faithful, Moses provided support for those who wanted to separate under God and no longer support the wife and children of marriage.  Marriage back then was not about love, but about economics and support.

Today, divorce rates are reported to be the highest they have been in over 60 years, even though people are getting married much later than they did in 1920 when the average age was close to 20 years old.

The prospects for the future were better in the 50's, with manufacturing at a peak, the economy booming and babies being produced at record rates, keeping families together, whether they were ideal match-ups or not.

We were a lot more fearful of doing anything that would be found unpleasing to God, Church and Country back then.  Some would say we were naive.

Even though we may be more accepting of divorce, we try to remain true to what Jesus said about marriage.  We seek to know if the couple plans to stay together, if they see marriage as sacred, if they are truly committed to become one.

Now that we accept same sex marriages, we will undoubtably see an increase in marriages with no immediate increase in divorces, so the divorce rate will look better.

But what about down the road?

It would be great if we stop following the celebrity partner shuffle and stick with the one we say we love more than any other, but that will take some work.

We have different expectations about life these days.  We want it all and we want it now.  We feel entitled to a good life, whether we want to work for it or not.  And marriage is work sometimes.

One could argue that it is not about money or power or toys or fidelity as much as it is about honesty.

When the truth breaks down, the marriage is over.

We may not learn this because we haven't been taught to truly come together in honesty.  Perhaps we didn't see it in our parents who stayed together through the secrets and lies.  That is not good either.

So, I guess the prayer for today's couples is simply one of seeking the truth in relationships, of being true and being truthful.  If we can do that, all things will be better.

More to come...

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