Our Marriage

Whenever I hear it, I have no idea what it means:

"The sanctitiy of marriage" --- whose marriage?

Often, those who would define marriage as between a man & a woman state we must ban gay marriage to protect "the sanctity of marriage."

Do I really have to point out all the ridiculous, sad, mortifying, and "unsanct" things married straight people do? Because really? If I do? Pick up a gossip rag in line at the grocery store and see for yourself.

If we can define the sex organs of who marries whom, where does it end?

My husband & I wrote our own wedding vows. Why not just use the ones the church provided? Because we don't go to church. We are atheists. We don't believe in God. Sometimes I wish I did, but I don't. And I think it's a sad irony. Many gay people do believe in God. Yet, their loves are "unsanct," not marriage-worthy. While little heathen me can marry to her hearts' content, all thanks to wanting to do that with someone of the opposite sex.

In a few weeks my husband & I will celebrate four years of marriage. We're still learning how to live our vows. We believe that's the whole idea. 

We believe. 

Nothing that happens inside anyone else's marriage affects ours in the least bit.

We believe in our marriage. 

A framed copy of our vows hangs outside our bedroom. It's a great reminder when those inevitable little irritants fester. It also represents the fact that our marriage is the center of our lives and our little family.

Here they are. If you fancy them, I welcome ANY two people who love to use them.

Marriage is a commitment to life,

and to the best that two people can find and bring out in each other.

It offers opportunities for growth and sharing that no other human relationship can

equal. It is a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

There will be space in our togetherness, allowing each to be individuals, with hearts

and minds of our own.

For only by being a whole person can we have something to give the other.

We will keep the freedom of spirit which individually brought us to stand together.

*

These things I promise to you from this day forward:
I will be faithful to you.

I will be honest with you.

I will respect and trust you.

I will care for you, and I will share my life with you, 

through the best and worst of what is to come, 

until death do us part.

This ring I give you, as an outward symbol of our vows.

This ring has no beginning and no ending, 

so too the love between us.

As I place it on your finger, 

I give you all that I am and ever hope to be.

*

When two people pledge to love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds them closer than any spoken or written words.

Marriage is a promise, a potential, made in the hearts of two people who love,

which takes a lifetime to fulfill.