for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part.
(The Vows, The Marriage Service, p. 108)
Martina Navratilova, the tennis player, once said ‘Do you know the difference between involvement and commitment? Think of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved. The pig is committed.’ That’s a good image to run with. There are plenty of relationships that are ‘egg’, and don’t develop into ‘ham’. Real commitment means no barriers, no holds barred, no reservations. It’s a strange thing in the wedding service that the example offered to a couple is not a great pair of lovers of the past, but the example of a bachelor – Jesus Christ. But his love for his friends was utterly without reservation. He could easily have said, when it became apparent what might happen to him ‘I love you, but . . .’ But his love went as far as it could possibly go. Inappropriate as it might be for a Jew, his love was ‘ham’ not ‘egg’.
Some people living together outside marriage have that ideal kind of total commitment. But, for many, it is conditional commitment, a provisional arrangement, providing everything continues to be good for both of them. At least, that seems to be the evidence of the many couples who say that they see marriage as a further stage of their relationship, when they will be totally committed to a lifelong partnership.
There may be something about our time in history that makes such an absolute commitment hard. Young people don’t join organizations like Scouts and Guides as they used to but, on the other hand, are often eager to commit to ‘causes’ like environmental groups. Organizations often say that they can get volunteers who are prepared to be on standby, but find it harder to get people to promise to help regularly as a matter of priority. People opt in and out of all sorts of things. In relationship terms, that may lead to ‘playing the field’. People book for evening classes, and then drop out. Airlines have to overbook in order to ensure their planes are full, because they know some people who have booked will not turn up. To say words that mean total, unambiguous commitment is against the trend. Independence is a goal many are struggling to achieve and enjoy, and that can make it hard to commit to someone else.
‘Most people don’t have a conscious “shopping list” when they are looking for a partner.’
But what comes from commitment is a sense of well-being and security. ‘My beloved is mine, and I am his’ as it says in the wonderfully erotic Song of Solomon – a book in the Bible. In days past in the UK, the belonging was horribly unequal. The wife belonged to the husband, but not vice versa. Now, as a beginning to the marriage service says, ‘In marriage husband and wife belong to one another.’ Each is the most precious thing the other has. To know we come first, second and last in someone else’s life is the most affirming thing that can happen to us. To love and be loved makes people blossom, like a flower opening.
Where are you coming from?
A television documentary traced the stories of some children who were bought the most amazing presents, and had extraordinary amounts of money spent on them. They were not particularly happy children. One of them, faced with a parent saying that she went out to work just so she could buy all these things, said that she would prefer just to have her mum’s time and attention. We all want to be needed, not tolerated. We all want to be valued, not bought. Most parents do give themselves in huge measure to their children. But often children don’t realize all that their parents give up for them until they are parents themselves.
It would be good to think through all the things that made you feel secure as a child, the things that made you feel loved, the things that made you feel that you belonged. By the same token, think of the things that made you feel less secure, and what effect that had on you.
People who come from homes where there has been little sense of commitment may find it harder to feel such security in adult life – but will almost certainly crave it deeply. Ron was such a young man. He had learned he could never rely on people. His parents were more concerned for their own interests than for anything they might do as a family. His father was a workaholic, and his mother busy with a whirl of social activities. He was left with a succession of babysitters. As he grew older, he realized they were simply paid to look after him, and had no interest in him as a person. In fact, he began to wonder if he was worth knowing. He didn’t seem to matter very much to anyone.
Paula and Graham had lived together for over seven years before they decided to get married. The vicar asked why they wanted marriage after such a long time. Their reply was both warming and sad at the same time. ‘It’s taken us all this time to feel we could risk it. We have each seen both our parents divorced twice – six divorces in all. Marriage always seemed to spell gloom and disaster. It’s only after being really happy for as long as this that we can dare put the label round our necks.’
In adult life we learn the hard way that we cannot trust everyone. In different ways, people sometimes let us down. They promise something but don’t keep the promise. We think we can rely on them, but find that we were wrong. The more we are let down, the harder it is to trust someone else. That will be especially true of broken relationships that meant a lot to us. We bring those hurts into new relationships we make, in the hope of finding healing and new hope.
Things to talk about and share
• You?
• Work?
• Money?
• Pleasure?
Where are you now?
Something remarkable has happened in your life. You probably wouldn’t be reading this book unless you were on the verge
