We will do anything to keep the heart beating.

All of the other organs may break down, but if our hearts are still beating, our loved-ones have hope in their eyes, they press our hands and write us cards. The beloved well-spring of life. We battle through diseases, infections, cancers, and aging, all to keep that heart beating.

And, in the end, the heart is always the last thing to go.

When the heart dies, there is nothing else beneath it that can keep life going.

We talk about that in marriage vows.

until death do us part…

I said those words without the slightest clue what they meant, really.

It was easy to promise that I would never divorce this handsome young man. (“Sure! I’ll say that!” I agreed simplistically.)

But, I know now that the phrase is about so much more than “divorce or no divorce”.

It is about the very structure of our hearts. The everyday treatment of that smiling groom.

I joined my heart in oneness with him, making our marriage together the heart of my whole life.

Vowing that everything else will die before that.

“My marriage will be the very last thing to die… during the times in life when things must die.”

Vowing that I will crucify my time,

my pleasures, obligations, idols,

my addictions, communication quirks, and fears,

my past.

All to preserve my union with that one man.

It’s not doom and gloom. On the contrary, we make that vow with a pursuit of happiness, knowing in our depths that a covenant like this – one that remains when all else fails and fades away – is what makes life whole, blessed – a thing of wonder.

until death do us part…

Because I said it one day, every day asks about it.

“What dies first today?”

*****

I’d love for you to watch this clip just one time during this marriage series so you can know why I like to talk about marriage. I have every reason in the world to hope for your marriage and mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFsHI1U9d0