Usually (or so it seems to me) the stuff pumped out from the TV on marriage is a depressing litany of failure and ideological posturing; so much so that I routinely avoid it.
On Friday, I caught myself watching a BBC documentary - Episode 3 of Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance - possibly because it featured Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp (she of punk rock, and he of King Crimson). It also featured four other couples I had never heard of.
I was so impressed that, if ever it was up to me, I'd recommend it as part of a marriage preparartion (or reparation?) course. These couples were all different in their own right, but what united them was their experience of the challenges and rewards of a total life-commitment to their husbands and wives within the bond of marriage. It was an inspiration to see the their absolute determination, love and teary-eyed joy in their marriages. It was something they decided to do, something they worked at. They hadn't just fallen into it and passively let it happen. They didn't just go along with it while they could get something out of it. They were absolute about their marriages. They truly embodied love.
After the so-called sexual revolution and current challenges to the most fundamental social institution on earth, will the infamous Gen Y ever 'discover' the joy of marriage? I hope so.
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