Working with Paul’s statement has clarified for me Dan’s and my position and that of others in situations similar to ours. This, plus early Friends’ testimony on marriage, shows me that we do have the ability to create “Quaker marriages” – with or without societal endorsement or group celebration. What is difficult for us to provide for ourselves is structural support for our relationships. Unique circumstances call for unique solutions to this need. Perhaps this is something that far-flung Friends can discuss together.
Paul Sheldon gifts me with a supportive context of understanding for my partnership with Dan: we have a Quaker marriage. Our life together has been a learning, growing adventure of opening to be responsive to Spirit and continuing revelation. Our partnership is celebrated with the fruits of our intention to be thus shaped and guided: enduring, growing love.
Love engendered in true relationship escapes its original container and spreads out. “My cup runneth over” expresses perfectly what Dan and I are experiencing. Facsimile-relationships are falling away; true relationships are taking their place. Whether it’s a momentary connection with a store clerk or a longer-term relationship with the staff of a dental office, we are seeing others through Spirit/God’s vision. In particular, our relationship with the natural world, including our bodies, is clarifying and deepening.
Could it be that our part, as humans, in ushering in the Peaceable Kingdom is to mutually celebrate a Quaker marriage with all Life?
