Faithful

Two images I can't seem to get out of my mind (and you know when that happens, the only way to get them out is to blog about them!)...

The first is a book I read about (and by) Ian and Larissa Murphy. Their story is a beautiful one and a tragic one (you can learn more about it here), and while the book teetered on the edge of whiney at times, I was struck by Larissa's faithfulness toward Ian. Even though they were not yet married when the accident happened, she stuck by him and did whatever she could to "bring him back." A lot of people (even some of their friends) questioned their decision to be married (and, as the book points out, Larissa did as well), their marriage has served as a model of faithfulness to the Christian community.

The second thing stuck in my brain is a movie starring Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore called "Still Alice." The story revolves around a linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and though I don't want to ruin the movie for you, with a diagnosis like that, it's not hard to guess the ending. The husband, played by Baldwin, is wonderful for most of the movie, and then a job opportunity comes along...in another state, far away. He knows he can't move his wife because of the disease (everything familiar would be gone), and so he makes a choice. He takes the job and leaves their daughter to care for his wife.

I realize the movie is fiction and the Murphy's story is real life, but I wonder if the Murphys aren't an exception. I wonder is Balwin's character represents the choice that might be made by the majority of people facing the same sort of situations today. I don't know; I'm just observing and asking. But I did once know a man who, once his wife was in a debilitating condition, divorced her and married someone else, leaving her to be cared for by other family members.

"For better or worse," we vow. "In sickness and in health."

Do the vows we take mean little?

Maybe none of us know what we would really do until we end up in such a situation, but then again that's the purpose of the marriage covenant. "Covenant," says David Lowes Watson, "is a promise made in days of strength that will hold you in days of weakness." God makes covenants with us, and thankfully God never has weak days. He is always faithful, always true, always there. He will always uphold his covenant with us and calls us to do the same...toward him and toward each other. God is faithful, even when I am not. And he gives me grace and strength every day. Thanks be to God.

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