Not Dying to Knot

I've always had questions about the institution of marriage. Am not convinced it is a good deal for women generally. I know a lot of men are afraid of the big 'C' word and have doubts about tying the knot. I think the trend is for increasing number of women to have similar doubts and reluctance. Perhaps many modern women feel that the traditional reasons for getting married no longer apply today. Today more women are financially independent (I think this is a major factor), independent physically having learned how to drive and move around, there is less stigma attached to those who remain single, able to have both close male and female friends who can provide emotional support. Often she is self-affirmed and have many dreams of her own. Marriage is no longer an attractive option and seem to have lost its intrinsic value in our society. Many couples enter into marriage asking what they can personally get out of it. That is really the wrong question because the answer to that is probably nothing because marriage is not the place for us to seek to serve self but often is a place where self is put to death. It is sad that more often than not couples are more than willing to talk about their marriage woes, the horrible jokes about marriage, coupled with the high rate of breakdown in marriages - all these do not help the 'image' of marriage. Call me a cynic; perhaps a cynic open to be converted!

I did a little survey by interviewing a number of people to share what they thought is good about marriage and whether they think it is a good thing for everyone. I figured it'll be good to find out since we expand a considerable sum of money attending weddings and even more is spent by the couples and families to celebrate the said union! Whilst almost all agreed that marriage is a good thing which they will recommend for all, I was a little disappointed that not many could clearly articulate what they felt were some definite benefits of marriage. Mind you, some of them have been married for more than 10-15 years. A handful however did give very good answers... feel free to drop me a line if you'll like to know more :p

At this juncture, I'd like to share with you to an excellent article entitled Will to Do by Ravi Zacharias. It gave me much food for thought and helped answer some of my questions.