Yearning for the heights

MARRIAGE

“What then does marriage teach us? It teaches us to strive for closeness.That intimacy cannot be attained or retained without effort. And what is the spiritual analogue of this earthly manifestation? It is the burning of the spirit for its Source, and His burning for us.Those who believe that marriage is an end in itself, that it is a guarantee of contentment, are fools. Marriage is difficult. It is painful. And it was meant to be so. For in trying to approach more closely to a human being who is so different from us, we begin to understand the task before us in approaching the Almighty, This is our work upon the earth, and the work of marriage prepares us for it. And although marriage may, in slow and unexpected ways, bring us much joy and satisfaction, nothing of the sort has been promised,

We may abandon this truth, but if so we shall have to abandon everything. we may declare that marriage stands for nothing but the desire in the hearts and the minds and the loins of two people, We may insist that our Creator could not have intended us to live in discomfort, We may, if we desire, stand atop a low mound of earth and declare ourselves lords of creation. But we should not then be surprised if we cease to burn with desire for the Source of the world, and if we cease to feel the warmth of His yearning for us,

( Excerpt from the novel  ‘Forbidden’  by Naomi Alderman )