Marriage
Marriage is a very important aspect of family life. When you decided to get married, you and your partner should be united both physically and spiritually. If you feel that you are not united in both these ways, you are not ready for a true marriage, one that will last forever. If the husband and wife are united spiritually and physically, they may enjoy everlasting unity throughout all the worlds of God. It is interesting to me that there must be a spiritual bond as well as a physical bond and that it is only a true marriage when the husband and wife can improve the spiritual life of one another.
“The true marriage of Baha’is is this, that husband and wife should be united both physically and spiritually, that they may ever improve the spiritual life of each other, and may enjoy everlasting unity throughout all the worlds of God.”
- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu’l-Baha, Page 118
The worlds of God are eternal and everlasting, so if you carry out a true marriage you will be with your partner forever. We should not only be united both spiritually and physically, but also should spend time studying each other’s character and getting to know each other.
“A couple should study each other’s character and spend time getting to know each other before they decide to marry, and when they do marry it should be with the intention of establishing an eternal bond.” – Letter dated 3 November 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, no.1269, p.380.
Before a couple decide to marry, they should study each other’s character deeply and spend time to get to know each other. After this, they should marry with the intention of establishing an eternal bond with each other lasting forever. From my understanding, if this is not your intention then the marriage should not go ahead.
Marriage is an important concept in family life, yet such a challenging stage in one’s life. Many explain it to be the turning point in their lives. The importance of marriage will be further discussed in my next post.
Love & Unity in Family
” The integrity of the family bond must be constantly considered, and the rights of the individual members must not be transgressed. The rights of the son, the father, the mother — none of them must be transgressed, none of them must be arbitrary. Just as the son has certain obligations to his father, the father, likewise, has certain obligations to his son. The mother, the sister and other members of the household have their certain prerogatives. All these rights and prerogatives must be conserved, yet the unity of the family must be sustained. The injury of one shall be considered the injury of all; the comfort of each, the comfort of all; the honor of one, the honor of all.”
- Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 168
The family unit must be equal and all within the family must have a mutual respect for each other. All members of the family, whether immediate or distant, must be striving to sustain the unity within the family. The rights of the individual members within the family must not be disobeyed. There are certain obligations with each of the roles in the family and all must be treated with care and respect.
The last line in particular catches my attention, the fact that when one member of your family is in pain, the rest of the family is also suffering. When one member is joyful and high-spirited, the rest of the family should feel so too. Its kind of like the domino’s effect. Each member of the family has an effect on the others. It is important that each and every member strives to gain the unity and happiness within the family.
If a family is aiming to achieve this unity with in the family we are reminded that,
“If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family willl advance, become illumined and spiritual…”
- Public Talk of Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 144-145.
For the advancement of the family to achieve the unity spoken of before, we are told that love and agreement must be manifest in the family. If this love and agreement is manifested the family will be illumined and spiritual. The family can reach such a high level with simply acquire love and agreement. Who would not want their family to be illumined and spiritual? How is it that we can build on the foundation to create this love and agreement in our families?
