And no, I’m not talking about the NSA, the Russians, or Google.
Someone sent us a link to an article last week, reminding us that our marriage isn’t just for us—that our marriage is actually a living, visible example to the rest of the world. We have no idea of the good we do by living a truly Catholic marriage.
It reminded me of another article I read with a similar message—about how we are all being watched—by other couples, and by teens and young adults considering their own married life.
Most of us will never know the impact we have on our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives if we are making conscious decisions to live a married life of devotion to each other—where the man is demonstrating love to his wife—all the time—and where the wife is showing respect to her husband, whether he’s present or at work.
The overwhelming majority of marriages are blah. Actually, I think the technical term is “bleh.” It means tasteless, bland, just-going-through-the-motions, and sadly, most marriages today are exactly that. And it’s one of the main reasons the entertainment industry, the sports industry, the gaming industry (the average age of online gamers is 31!), and all the other escapist industries are thriving.
So when we demonstrate love and respect to our spouse, two very important, very amazing things happen. The first is that our own marriage becomes alive. Full Technicolor alive! We find in our marriage joy, excitement, and pleasure. And to the degree that we continue working on our marriage, the joy and peace continue to grow.
But the second thing that happens is that we radiate outward to everyone what a living marriage looks and sounds and feels like. Without even trying, we touch so many other people—and in the process, other people will be encouraged to look at their own lives and marriages and see that they, too, can start to come alive.
In our small, everyday ways, we become beacons, reflecting a profound love that grows not by perfection, but by intention. Every kind word, every act of patience, every time we choose to honor our vows in action, we echo something larger and more eternal than ourselves.
Our marriages are more important than we realize; they are a light – the only chance we have to illuminate a world going dark.