Today I was reading an article from the Wall Street Journal in the September 26th, 2014 issue (yeah, I’m a bit behind) titled “The Pope and the Divorce Question“. In there, was a quote that I thought made quite a bit of sense with today’s society. Unfortunately, it’s a bit sad, but I think it’s true. It’s just below:
The pope has suggested that as many as half of all Catholic marriages are actually invalid, “because people get married lacking maturity, they get married without realizing that it is a lifelong commitment, they get married because society tells them they have to get married.”
Unfortunately, most today, it seems, are more narcissistic than before.
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Granted, here’s my disclaimer: I’m a single 35-year-old virgin who has never been married. I will say, however, that I feel that I’ve made some pretty serious sacrifices for my (hopefully) future wife – I don’t think I’ve met her yet, but I’m hoping she’s out there somewhere.
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It’s easy from where I’m at to make the statements I’ve made, but I will say that I’m definitely not letting society tell me how to live my life. If I did that, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Not to shove God into all of this, but I’m not a big-time God this and God that person. However, I feel that God is essentially the opportunity to better one’s self. He’s not really an entity (errrr… Maybe he is, but not something that humans can see [at least, not at this point]), he is the ability for one to see themselves getting better in whatever they want to get better in. Thus, from my perspective, this could very well be where God and the church fit into all of this.
Also, to me, the aforementioned narcissistic mentality referred to above, is getting out of control. Seemingly everyone is the exception to the rule. For me, I feel like I give and give and give and give and give and give and sacrifice and sacrifice and sacrifice and sacrifice for the things that I want. Going parallel with what a lifelong commitment would be like. Granted, I do give in to impulse every once in a while, but unfortunately some parts of life are more dynamic and arbitrary than others. I’m of the mindset that nothing is free, everything is paid for by someone. With a mindset like that, I feel like I’m grounded a bit for a lifelong commitment. If two people are constantly giving of themselves and sacrificing for the good of the other (or commitment [i.e. marriage]), it seems it would be a fairly straightforward endeavor… But what do I know… :/
In the grand scheme of things, it seems most times you actually have to fight for what you want (most of my fights are in my head and heart), not give in or give up when it comes to a commitment like that (i.e. marriage). It is SOOOOO easy to give in to temptation… So easy, it’s scary! Sex is a huge one. I am a virgin, by choice. To me, anybody over the age of 15 that is a virgin, is a virgin by choice… That’s how easy I think it is to give into temptation, unfortunately.
Also, it seems the dirty words these days are those that actually command a form of discipline; i.e. integrity, honor, self-control, sacrifice, etc. Maturity, to me, seems as though it’s a combination of these words that are practiced on a daily basis . It has to be a habit – there’s no way around it.
Anyway, I ‘spose that’s my rant for the day. (… Steps down from the soapbox…) 😉
