Some time with Ma Bell

How many of you know what "Ma bell" means?(without using google) I know at least one of you who does.

Yesterday I took a phone call from a person I don't speak with over the phone very often.
I was surprised, but happy to take the call. I was asked to share some of my views on the topic of marriage and divorce. I'm not entirely sure why I was being asked these questions. It could be because of my own life experiences. It could be that I am an extremely wise and honorable person. Ummmm....yeah, it's probably not that second reason.

I believe God created the earth and all we see around us. I believe that faith in him is the only way to ensure an everlasting life, beyond the limits of the world we see everyday. The person I was speaking with believes these things as well. You may be asking, how does any of this translate into the topic of marriage and divorce? In my opinion it goes as follows....
Since I believe that God created the world, and everything in it, I therefore believe he created both male and female. I believe that he made a deliberate decision to design things in such a way that gave birth to the concept of marriage. Also in my opinion, this means that the act of marriage always involves God. This is a lousy example so bear with me..... When you go to the dealership and buy a new car, Henry Ford or the model "T" are probably the last things on your mind. Nevertheless, you are about to buy into something that is the direct result of his thinking and design from many years ago.
My thinking says that God was the author of marriage long before any government got involved.
Long before any legal system or judge ever made decisions about what is and is not permissible.
As for my remarks to this person, I said that I believe that divorce, at it's very core is wrong.
I also told this person that we are living in a flawed society. A world filled with evil. As a race, we have long since departed living out the plan that I believe God originally had for us, and also for institutions(poor word choice) such as marriage. It seemed to me this person was looking to find finite answers or somehow predict what the future might look like for them, if a divorce was sought, or if the marriage remained intact. As I had misplaced my crystal ball and my script to all life here on earth, I could not provide this person with any such assurances. I did tell this person that I believe that there is forgiveness in friendship, and therefore there is forgiveness and grace between us and God.
God has given us the ability to make decisions as we see fit in daily life. Each day we are free to do what we want, when we want, where we want. Some of what we do hurts our friend, some of it pleases our friend. We should make our important choices with careful thought, common sense and having sought out advice from those around us, including God.
There will always be benefits and consequences to every decision we make. However, like any true friend, God will always be there when we choose incorrectly. He will be there not to point and laugh, not to beat us down for screwing up, he will be there to help us get ready for the next important decision.
In short:
1. I think divorce is wrong
2. I think it is an over used option by a society that has become increasingly lazy, shallow and selfish.
3. I believe that many times, given the plague of evil we live in, getting a divorce may indeed be the lesser of all evils, and a reasonable option.
4. Getting a divorce is somewhat of a man-made thing. It involves lawyers, the courtroom, and quite often, thousands of dollars. None of these things could be further removed from anything resembling God to begin with. Having said that, is that what we should be in pursuit of? ....some piece of paper that tells us who we love, or who we are, or aren't?
I hope there is more to life than that.

Click here for some other thoughts on this matter from a previous post.