A Brief Note on Marriage.

I was thinking back a couple of months to when somebody’s marriage devastated me, even though it was no concern of mine and should have been of no consequence whatsoever. Naturally I set about analysing the reason, and in so doing came to a few conclusions with regard to the institution of marriage.

At this point I could launch into a homily, but I don’t like homilies very much – especially when they’re written by me – so I’ll make do with noting a personal realisation.

I was never married. I once went through a ceremony and got married, but I don’t think it’s the same thing at all. To me, being married was simply a case of living with a woman who started using my surname for official purposes. Nothing else changed. Living with my ‘wife’ was no different than living with the other four women to whom I didn’t get married.

And now I hold it to be self-evident that if marriage is to serve any purpose it has to be more than a partnership. It has to be a union, and that involves accepting a fundamental change in your identity. Otherwise, why bother?

So why did I go through the procedure? Long story.