Spirituality and Mysticism: Spirituality-To Honour and Obey

The word helpmate has gained a bad reputation among feminist followers who then try and use it by giving it the wrong connotation, that woman is man's doormat, this is not so! Women need to look and read less of what society is only to ready to supply with its militant stand against anything masculine as if being a man was a crime, and being a woman is to be shamed!

In order to gain a Biblical sense of the importance of a woman's role in the life of her family and also society as a whole let us see what the Word reveals, The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him....So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body." We also read in Proverbs these Words of Divine instruction, "A gracious woman wins esteem, but she who hates virtue is covered with shame. (The slothful become impoverished, but the diligent gain wealth.) A kindly man benefits himself, but a merciless man harms himself." We see here that God does not differentiate between man and woman, as both can be good and both can also choose to do evil and face the consequences of their actions. Once again in Proverbs we read, "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come.She opens her mouth in wisdom, and on her tongue is kindly counsel. She watches the conduct of her household, and eats not her food in idleness. Her children rise up and praise her; her husband, too, extols her: "Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled them all." Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates."

In the above Scripture passages we can understand that it is not God who has distorted the view of the Holy Union between man and wife. It is the world, society as a whole who have scorned the Word of God in favour of their own misinformed bigotry. The wife's role in marriage is paramount to its happiness and completeness for through the loving nurturing and selfless giving of herself the man is made whole, through the Gift of woman both couples are made complete, through the self giving of each other. We also read in Galatians the love which God expresses to both His creatures, "For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." God's love is expressed equally towards both sexes, it is man himself who corrupts this Divine Law, by compromising the Truths of God and replacing it with his or her own misconceived and misguided opinions and creating the 'war of the sexes' which in God's Eye does not exist! It is a man created idea completely devoid of Divine Light.

The role of wife and mother is unique unto the woman for in her we see the strengths that only she can give to the union of both man and woman. And as the wife leads so too do the children follow, therefore if the wife respects her husband the children will respect their father. The opposite also exists for if the wife shows disrespect towards her Spouse so too the children will show disrespect towards both Father and Mother, as the institution of marriage crumbles from the faulty foundation of selfishness over selflessness. The role of Mother is crucial to the happiness of the marriage it is to the Mother that the children learn submission as the wife submits to the leadership role of the husband as God has Ordained. In learning from the mother the children will also submit themselves to the parents equal authority. As Jacqueline Kennedy once said, "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much." As the role of the Father is to be the provider and leader in the home then the role of the mother must be that of nurturer and support to her husband and children.

Marriage is more than a clinical document it is a Covenant between two people a promise to honour, love and esteem each other over anyone else. Marriage is also a Sacrament, where two people make a promise to God to honour love and obey one another from mutual respect and obedience to God's Commandments to remain faithful to one another.

Submission does not mean slavery where the woman is supposed to obey all her husbands orders as if she were a subordinate without a will of her own or a mindless robot, as in the Stepford wives. When the husband begins to treat his wife as his lackey this will foster a deep sense of injustice and hurt to the wife as she begins to resent the position which the husband on his own has assigned her. A situation like this cannot be maintained and the marriage will soon deteriorate into manipulation and coercion before both couples declare outright war where there are no victors! It is the case too that a wife must not leave all decisions to the husband or impose on him the sole right to discipline their children, in other words it is not a good thing to turn the father into a bogeyman who the children fear rather than love.

A good marriage is a meeting of both minds and hearts, where two people decide together how they wish to raise their children and what support they can give to each other. The keyword in any marriage is mutual RESPECT, without respect there is no relationship. All marriages suffer through rocky times and tensions can become fraught but if the respect remains then the problems can be solved by open communication and to be mindful of Gods Command to not commit adultery. At times all marriages can fall into a bland routine, but as this anonymous quote says, "God, if I can't have what I want, let me want what I have." It is a case of counting one's blessings even amidst the ordinary everyday chores and realising that what you have is worth keeping.

In all things we must appreciate the difference which each person brings into the marriage, the man through his strength and leadership the woman through her nurturing and support can each validate the others position in their Marital Covenant. As Helen Keller once wrote, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." It is the same with love, in order to love deeply one exposes their heart and its vulnerability and in risking all the soul gains all. No-one gains by a love half given as a person plays it safe rather than risk giving of themselves. Sincere and passionate love is all about self emptying, a giving of oneself to another.

For marriage to be a success there must be God at the centre of both their hearts for when God is removed from the scene, chaos and ego enter. The Faith of the family is essential for a healthy spirituality, for if we are relying totally on our own strength the well will quickly run dry as the family thirst through their own selfishness. It is God that centres one on what is important in life and through this enlightenment comes wisdom from the Triune Spirit. What is most important in all cases is not what you can get out of a situation or from a person it is in realising what you can give, as this anonymous quote says, "What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things." When we understand this we realise that without the element of love then everything is meaningless. It is God who gives meaning to our lives and a purpose for our existence, to love God and to love one another. When it comes to marriage it symbolizes the Mystical qualities of the Divine Love of God towards man, an emptying of self as Christ emptied Himself for love alone.

To find the perfect example of the love exemplified by Christ we need look no further than that most Holy of families Joseph, Mary and Jesus, for not once did Mary question Josephs decisions but instead humbly followed his lead as Joseph submitted his will to Gods Divine Will as did Mary.

For a marriage to succeed it takes two, for one is a lonely number indeed.