Forty
22/06/13 05:06
So here is your trivia for the day. How many spaces are there on a Monopoly board? The answer is 40. I’m not sure what knowing that information will do for you unless you want to mention it in a blog post someday, but that has already been done. I’m doing it right now.
Forty is a number that comes up in the Bible over and over again. Rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights during the flood. Spies explored the land of Israel for 40 days. The Hebrew people wandered in the desert for 40 years. Eli, Saul, David and Solomon each ruled for 40 years. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai three different times. Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. There were 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension. Lent is 40 days long.
40 lashes is said to be enough to kill a person. That is why the most severe punishment is 39 lashes – one short of the final blow.
40 years is often used as the length of a generation in the Bible. 40 weeks is the length of a pregnancy.
40 years ago today I made a promise. And it has made all of the difference in the world.
Actually, the promise was part of a wider agreement – a covenant. I wasn’t the only one making promises that day. Susan and I exchanged our vows before God and in the presence of a community of family and friends in the midst of the church that was a very special place for both of us.
I didn’t know what 40 years were in those days - unless it meant two lifetimes. I was 20 years old. Promising my lifetime was an interesting concept, but I didn’t know what a lifetime was.
There was a lot that I didn’t know in those days.
There is a lot that I don’t know today.
But today we celebrate 40 years – not bad for someone who didn’t know what he was doing.
The quality of a relationship cannot be measured in the length of time. As Roy Blount Jr. once said, “It is better to have been good and over than rotten and gone on too long.” My parents didn’t get 40 years together. My father didn’t live long enough. But they had a wonderful marriage – enough for a lifetime and then some. But somehow, through the grace of God today is the day that we celebrate 40 years. It doesn’t seem like it took long at all.
The week after we were married, we went to the celebration of a 50th wedding anniversary. It seemed that those who were celebrating were really old and that such an event was somehow a long way in the future. I have thought of us as “newly weds” for most of our married life. That’s the way that the aging process goes. It sort of sneaks up on you and occurs when you don’t realize that it is happening. And now it has been 40 years.
And the years have been good to us – very good. We have been blessed with friendships that have endured over the decades. We have been blessed with family that has been supportive of our marriage. We have ben blessed with children and church and so much more.
For a few years, now, I have been trying to tell young couples, when they come to the church to be married, of how wonderful it is to grow old together. Marriage continues to grow in meaning and beauty and worth as the years go by. But I don’t think that there is really any way for me to tell someone else how wonderful it is.
But it is wonderful.
It is even more fun to be married for 40 years than it was for 25 or for 5 or for one. Though each of those anniversaries had a special sweetness. Each year the depth of love continues to grow – layer upon layer. The memories and the stories and the shared experiences add to the richness of each moment.
Our friend and teachers Ross and Martha Snyder wrote, “A lifetime together will be all too short to explore all of the meanings of your love.” It is true. There is more meaning than there is time. And a lifetime is all too short – no matter how many years one is granted.
I suppose that the odds have been in our favor all along. The divorce rate was nearing 50% when we were married, which means that 50% of marriages succeed. Given the fact that we both came from families where our parents’ marriages were successful improved our odds a bit. We have been fortunate to have many friends who have happy marriages.
The bottom line is that the decision to marry was absolutely the right one for us. I suppose that I thought that I wanted to be married for many years before I was married. For the last forty years I have never not wanted to be married. My wish has come true.
We humans are capable of making promises that can be kept. And commitments can define us in very positive ways. It is one of the paradoxes that our people have known for thousands of years. True freedom doesn’t come from the absence of commitments. True freedom comes from the ability to make and keep commitments. No one can be truly free until that person discovers to what and with whom he or she can be faithful.
Although we prefer for our celebrations to be low key and private, today is a day worthy of a celebration. It is an occasion worth note. 40 years is a good number for now. And with the blessing of good health 40 is a small enough number to give us the feeling that we have many more yet to come. No one can predict the future and no one knows the number of years that will be granted, but we are very fortunate. Whatever lies ahead, we have had 40 years to lay the foundation of a relationship that can be trusted.
Who knows? She may be willing to put up with me for a few more.
40 lashes is said to be enough to kill a person. That is why the most severe punishment is 39 lashes – one short of the final blow.
40 years is often used as the length of a generation in the Bible. 40 weeks is the length of a pregnancy.
40 years ago today I made a promise. And it has made all of the difference in the world.
Actually, the promise was part of a wider agreement – a covenant. I wasn’t the only one making promises that day. Susan and I exchanged our vows before God and in the presence of a community of family and friends in the midst of the church that was a very special place for both of us.
I didn’t know what 40 years were in those days - unless it meant two lifetimes. I was 20 years old. Promising my lifetime was an interesting concept, but I didn’t know what a lifetime was.
There was a lot that I didn’t know in those days.
There is a lot that I don’t know today.
But today we celebrate 40 years – not bad for someone who didn’t know what he was doing.
The quality of a relationship cannot be measured in the length of time. As Roy Blount Jr. once said, “It is better to have been good and over than rotten and gone on too long.” My parents didn’t get 40 years together. My father didn’t live long enough. But they had a wonderful marriage – enough for a lifetime and then some. But somehow, through the grace of God today is the day that we celebrate 40 years. It doesn’t seem like it took long at all.
The week after we were married, we went to the celebration of a 50th wedding anniversary. It seemed that those who were celebrating were really old and that such an event was somehow a long way in the future. I have thought of us as “newly weds” for most of our married life. That’s the way that the aging process goes. It sort of sneaks up on you and occurs when you don’t realize that it is happening. And now it has been 40 years.
And the years have been good to us – very good. We have been blessed with friendships that have endured over the decades. We have been blessed with family that has been supportive of our marriage. We have ben blessed with children and church and so much more.
For a few years, now, I have been trying to tell young couples, when they come to the church to be married, of how wonderful it is to grow old together. Marriage continues to grow in meaning and beauty and worth as the years go by. But I don’t think that there is really any way for me to tell someone else how wonderful it is.
But it is wonderful.
It is even more fun to be married for 40 years than it was for 25 or for 5 or for one. Though each of those anniversaries had a special sweetness. Each year the depth of love continues to grow – layer upon layer. The memories and the stories and the shared experiences add to the richness of each moment.
Our friend and teachers Ross and Martha Snyder wrote, “A lifetime together will be all too short to explore all of the meanings of your love.” It is true. There is more meaning than there is time. And a lifetime is all too short – no matter how many years one is granted.
I suppose that the odds have been in our favor all along. The divorce rate was nearing 50% when we were married, which means that 50% of marriages succeed. Given the fact that we both came from families where our parents’ marriages were successful improved our odds a bit. We have been fortunate to have many friends who have happy marriages.
The bottom line is that the decision to marry was absolutely the right one for us. I suppose that I thought that I wanted to be married for many years before I was married. For the last forty years I have never not wanted to be married. My wish has come true.
We humans are capable of making promises that can be kept. And commitments can define us in very positive ways. It is one of the paradoxes that our people have known for thousands of years. True freedom doesn’t come from the absence of commitments. True freedom comes from the ability to make and keep commitments. No one can be truly free until that person discovers to what and with whom he or she can be faithful.
Although we prefer for our celebrations to be low key and private, today is a day worthy of a celebration. It is an occasion worth note. 40 years is a good number for now. And with the blessing of good health 40 is a small enough number to give us the feeling that we have many more yet to come. No one can predict the future and no one knows the number of years that will be granted, but we are very fortunate. Whatever lies ahead, we have had 40 years to lay the foundation of a relationship that can be trusted.
Who knows? She may be willing to put up with me for a few more.