Marriage is a complex and layered thing. Loving (and continuing to learn to love) another person is a full, and deep, and nuanced experience. To see someone, learn their way of speaking, understand their body language, know how they think and act, understand their moods, and decide that you love that person and want to be forever with that person is a thing that is dense with knowledge, emotion, and a connection to the spiritual level. It can look like a simple natural world thing of daily interactions, but sometimes we can see and feel more of these layers than usual.
Continue reading Getting Back to the Warm Fuzzy Feelings
All posts by Abby Smith
Prepared as a Bride
Some of the first passages of the Bible I memorized and learned as a child were the last chapters of Revelation. For nearly as long as I can remember I have known the words about the “holy city, New Jerusalem… prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:3). Even as I memorised it I liked the imagery but didn’t understand the idea.
My dad is a General Church pastor, and I have been raised with the ideas of the New Church. The church organization has significantly affected the trajectory of my life since that is what dictated where my family lived. I am now married to a General Church pastor, so still most of the major life decisions I’m making are directly affected by the church organization. This impact hasn’t always been easy and tidy, and after years of ups and downs I have at times seriously questioned the benefits of a humanly established church organization. Recently I had a few things connect for me about the teachings of the church being the bride and wife that have helped me resolve some of these questions.