Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday June 6, 2007

According to an article in the Washington Post celebrating marriages that endure, it was stated, "Okay, maybe not always bliss, that's still a lot of years together in an age when one third of marriages go down the drain in their the first five years." The crowd of 500 couples touted 40,000 cumulative years of marriage. And you think your marriage seems long.

Ray and Betty Lankford, now 81 and married 62 years having given ten children the gift of life say the only fights they ever had involved the kids. With ten kids I suppose they did and do a lot of making up.

According to George Barna, Catholics have a 16 percent better chance of the marriage working than do the combined Protestant groups, with Pentecostals the most likely to divorce and Presbyterians the least likely. Most Baptist's who by the way are not Protestants, seem to fight it out to the bitter end.

Some of the reasons given as to the tenacity of their marriage included, deep faith, commitment to each other, their vows to love and honor and cherish, and to such things as "He's a good dancer" and "He is good at folding laundry." I had hoped some of the women would admit that the secret is, "He stays out in the woods hunting all the time" or "I don't have to think of things to say because he always has his head stuck in the TV watching a ball game and this frees me to develop my spiritual nature." This was a gathering of Catholic couples, so perhaps the women do not appreciate the truly fine art of a man laying in the woods all day and half the night in order to give the Little Woman time for inner growth. Perhaps Mr. Lankford should have spent considerable more time coon hunting. I don't know if the Pope has issued any Bulls on the legitimacy of coon hunting as an acceptable form of birth control, but it seems to work well for several of my Baptist friends.

I recall an incident years ago in which I told the Great Blonde that I was thinking about giving up playing softball so much (200 plus games per year) in order to be home more and have a few more children. The next day she bought me a new pair of cleats. Wise girl. Actually, most of my softball career was more of a denial of my mortality than an actual playing career. I have or had several rooms full of trophies, but in my dotage I think I would have more joy with rooms full of grandchildren, real trophies of enduring love.

Not one of the things popular novels or Hollywood wants us to believe are essential to lasting relationships was mentioned. He's a good kisser, or she can really hug, or more passionate attributes were alluded to, but rather the simple things, the mundane acts of love such as "He is good at folding the laundry" seem to increase your chances of enduring to the end. As to "folding laundry" I would appreciate you keeping this between you and me. There is no real need for the Great Blonde to share in this information.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit

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