Posted by Christine Burrows 

Genesis 2:18  The Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make his complement.

I am a woman. My husband is a man.  Simple observations regarding the profound reality of God’s plan for humanity.

As a woman, I have my ways… emotional, nurturing, verbal, inquiring, sensitive.

And, he has his…dutiful, strong, honorable, protective, resourceful.

In marriage, these attributes complement one another. Where one is weak, the other is strong. Where one is needy, the other is helpful…. at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

What is the reality of the male/female partnership? Living with these differences is not always easy. It can be especially difficult at times to balance and integrate them in lives lived at the speed of light. When we are prideful, contentious or harried they can be downright frustrating and painful. But, just as the male and female bodies are different AND complementary, so are our natures, our characters.

When we come together with our very different bodies to create something greater than ourselves, so, too, should we seek ways to integrate our psychological, spiritual, and emotional differences to create something far better than each of us individually – a marriage!  A symbiotic relationship, in which the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  Just as sexual union involves submission, so, too, does relational union. In God’s plan, both unions are glimpses of heaven.  In our mutual submission to one another, we fulfill the divine directive to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth as stewards of our faith and the word of God.

In the reality of our fallen-ness, we don’t always get a full view of this heavenly union. We are humans–prideful, vain, and prone to anger. Thankfully, we are forgiven through reconciliation, and blessed with opportunities to experience this piece of heaven. And, each time we do, we want it more. With great hope, I pray for each of us to savor those glimpses, and to do all we can to sustain them.