Thought for the Day

"Spiritual virtues are developed through ascetic behaviors and marriage is an ascetic behavior.  It is ascetic not because married couples are to live in Platonic marriages (though some of our saints have) but because it requires discipline and humility to remain focused on the needs and desires of the other on a day-in, day-out basis.  Marriage is ascetic because it requires work–work around one’s hearth and home, like carrying out garbage, mowing down the brush, cultivating the field, changing the oil, cooking dinner, and other such tasks.  More importantly, it is ascetic because it requires the work of listening (yes, real active listening), fruitful dialogue, and prayerful decisions.


Marriage is a blessed asceticism, and one that is increasingly on the frontier as American society journeys into a malaise it has not encountered before."

Comments

TLF+ said…
Awesome quote. Thanks for posting this.
7/28/2010 5:51 PM
FrontierOrthodoxy said…
Well, thank you very kindly for this. I don't always say things in the best way, so it's nice to know I can come across well at least some of the time. I hope I hit on some truth and tried to to the best of my reflections on the matter.

I liked the link to the video below, too. Heather is a very very kind lady and so talented. Say, would you mind sending me an email?
7/29/2010 9:59 AM
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