We Don't Need No Piece Of Paper From The City Hall.

Near Ballintoy on the North Antrim coast is the famous Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. Once it was just that, a mere bridge put up and taken down each year by local salmon fishermen. Now under the National Trust it is a major tourist attraction. As well as spectacular views of Rathlin, Islay, Jura and the Mull of Kintyre, a visit is incomplete without crossing the bridge itself.

Is it safe? The locals who used to put it up each year would have no hesitation in saying, yes absolutely! Now with Health and Safety legislation there is no question at all about its safety, although you are still advised to proceed with care and to avoid letting your children horse across it!

What does this have to do with commitment in marriage? If you don’t think a bridge is safe you will not venture across. There are many and in increasing numbers, who think that the commitment to another in marriage is unsafe, too risky, never to be considered because they have had painful experiences in the past where they have been let down, hurt, abandoned or they have friends who have been in such dark places. Others like Joni Mitchell in the song 'My Old Man' say, 'We don't need no piece of paper from the City Hall keeping us tied and true.' The truth is that the alternative is even less safe and secure and is even more riskier.  

In marriage when you sense that your commitment is firm you gain confidence to venture out.  This is one of the most distinguishing and attractive features of marriage. It is a safe place and with commitment you greatly increase the chances of the relationship lasting. Commitment brings security, confidence, gives momentum to a relationship. Notwithstanding, you still have to cross with care. A marriage takes day after day and year after year of careful attention.

It was the German writer Goethe who said, ‘Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness................Boldness has genius, power, magic to it.’

Marriage is the safest and most secure of all ways to go. The best research on the subject would say, yes absolutley!

Consider how you might celebrate your commitment to your spouse in a special way sometime soon.

 

(Recommended: 'The Power of Commitment' Scott Stanley.  Publ. Jossey-Bass 2005)