Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Speculation on Marriage: Creating a Complete Whole

My wife and I are so perfect for each other partly because we are so naturally different in so many ways. I really don't know if "Godhood" is the joining of an actual "male" being with an actual "female" being creating a complete "godly" being, but it certainly rings true to me that "Godhood" is the state of becoming "complete, whole, fully developed" as "perfect" is defined in Matthew 5:48. I personally think that means we only can become perfect by developing all good characteristics generally associated as "natural" to either man or woman. I know in my own marriage I have been able to learn how to "become" more complete, whole and fully developed because I interact regularly with someone who is very different than I.

Maybe gender is an essential characteristic specifically because it is "naturally" limited and requires growth and combination and adaptation - the very process we preach as the development of Godhood. Perhaps we need a spouse to reach Godhood specifically because it might be impossible for some (or all) to fully escape our natural characteristics and become complete, whole and fully developed on our own.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is how I see things and the only purpose I see in this whole heterosexual marriage thing. Or else what would be the need to get married only to the opposite sex?
This also leads to more pondering about gender and Godhood but this is not really something that can be discussed down here I think because I honestly believe we don't have enough element, knowledge, wisdom, whatever to really understand what is going on.

Anonymous said...

Also - if we think of marriage within the context of mormonism, we need both genders in the home. As a woman, I'm grateful to have the power of the priesthood in my home. There was a time when I didn't have this blessing. I was a single mother of two children, and I had to reach out to my bishop or home teacher in order to have some of the blessings of the priesthood in the walls of my house.

Now, that I am married to a faithful priesthood holder, I'm so grateful that his righteous influence is in my home.

The reverse is true. Women have divine roles and responsibilities that are needed in order to make the home more effective and whole. We are mothers, and this is a really wonderful blessing - to us as women and to our families.

There are so many reasons we do need the influence of both a man and woman in our families and marriages.

Thanks for the post.

Anonymous said...

Interesting thoughts. How does polygamy play into the whole thing, though? We've got the historical kind where several women lived at the same time with one husband as they all tried to make themselves more perfect, but we've also got the current "celestial" kind (for lack of a better word) where husbands are sealed to several deceased wives.

Are people who practice polygamy, either here or in the hereafter, at an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to becoming a Perfect Whole that is Godhood? And does it change the idea of godly perfection if the union is between a man and several women versus a man and a woman?

Papa D said...

Anon, frankly, I believe in the communal sealing aspect of polygamy as it was practiced toward the end of Joseph's life - that "polygamy" will not exist in the hereafter as we understand it here in mortality.

My view on this topic are a bit different than most members, and I might write a post with more detail at some point, but it would be pure speculation - since I really don't know.

Anonymous said...

I think the issue of whether our marriages are supposed to be patriarchal or companionate is central-well,at the moment anyhow.It's a very recent debate i guess,and maybe therefore not of eternal import.But it sure feels that way to me.