Marriage Tidbit 1:

Can anyone confirm the following? When I had the conversation with my former catholic priest friend - I asked him about Mary and Joseph. He said that all they had to do was state their intent (Betrothal?) and Joseph could have relations with Mary. We know that he didn't until after Christ was born. But it sounds like all you have to say - "I'm married to you" and it was good enough. A ceremony wasn't necessary.

This is interesting regarding the fact (I'm drawing this from 10th grade World Cultures) people in the middle east can marry by saying in a public place "I marry you, I marry you, I marry you." I'm not sure those are the right words but I also learned that you could be divorced by saying in a public place, "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you." This would reinforce a custom that didn't protect women - thus another reason the Catholic church would start the process of a ceremony that allows the woman to state her consent in entering a marriage.
Hmmm. Just a thought.

Wikipedia quote: No specific civil ceremony was required for the creation of a marriage among the Greeks and Romans; only mutual agreement and the fact that the couple must regard each other as husband and wife accordingly. In Ancient Greece, men usually married when they were in their 30's. They expected their
wives to be in their early teens. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage)

History of Marriage (Intro - Part 1)

While in NYC for a work trip, I ran into a former colleague. We use to work together during my old job. Essentially, my old job was the producer and they were the client. Anyway, "D" has an interesting story and I still don't understand it. All I know is he use to be a Catholic priest for over 20 years. The theory a friend of mine had is that he left because he lives an alternative life-style. I've not been able to confirm this but it makes sense in regards to certain comments.

Anyway, the story here is about the history of marriage. "D" and I ended up going to dinner on Monday night. While there, he mentioned that he'd resigned himself that he'll be single for the rest of his life. How do you respond to that? Especially when I don't even know his orientation. So I said, "I hope I don't have to spend the rest of my life single." "D" actually has investigated the LDS church a lot and knows a lot about our doctrine from a historical perspective. He still considers himself a true-catholic... so this is why I'm confused about his orientation. "D" has even read the D&C and other talks from General conference.

Okay, so my point is, he started telling me the history of marriage. He said that marraige as we know it didn't really exist until the 12th century. The church (Catholic) decided at that time that they wanted to inherit the Catholic Priest's estates (not have it passed on to their families) so they eliminated a priest's option to be married.

They added the matrimony act at that time because before that, women did need to consent.

Basically, I walked away from that conversation feeling like he was pushing the point about marriage evolving and that we're going towards non-marriage as a natural path of life. This was also partly in response to my telling him the story about the LDS Mid-singles conference with very few good men and about 300 women.

So I'm going to start researching marriage. I know what the church has said. I love the proclamation on the family. I want to believe that marriage is valuable to men and women and that I'm not just dreaming of a fairytale. I don't want to admit or give-up on what I believe.

MORE TO COME...
NOTE: Picture from: www.maryannjohnson.com/wedding.html

One of the most beautiful sites

I wanted to take a picture but I'm sure you need a special lens or setting. My camera phone definitely couldn't capture it. So what was it? It's lightning up inside the clouds. I watched it from my plane's window. We were somewhere above Ohio or Michigan. Our plane was outside the clouds but flying parallel with them. I saw the different flashes of light and just felt like there was music inside of that nature show. I couldn't almost hear the symphony.
So that's why I think lightning can be one of the most beautiful sites.