The Secret to a Long and Happy Marriage 1

When people find out that my wife and I have been married 46 years, they ask "What is the secret to a long and happy marriage?" Which has set me to thinking, "Well, what IS the secret to a long and happy marriage?"

The secret to a long and happy marriage, as well as to a long and happy life, is the Guy we make our vows to in the marriage ceremony--God. The Milta* is the manifestation of God, Who is otherwise invisible, intangible spirit (consciousness). The Milta also manifests God as a Man who is in the process of BECOMING the completed Manifestation of God. Believe me, you want to be included in that process, that world, for that is where length of life and happiness truly are.

I recognize that in our wedding, with our vows my wife and I became joined to that invisible world, the world wherein the Milta is making us into the completed Him. We were joined not just to each other, but our world became joined to that world. We touched that becoming world's magic with our vows, and that magic sticks in our spirit as we hold to those vows. That invisible world is a consciousness thing in this visible world. Said my New Testament professor, "The Kingdom of God has to do with attitudes" (Dr. John W. Messer). There is an invisible Power working Its intent in this world

Looking at us, or at least at me, you would think, "I do not see a lot of (or any) progress in your becoming the manifestation of God, if that process is what is truly underway. It looks like it would take an eternity." Well, what do you think eternity is FOR? "He (God/the Milta) has placed Eternity (the development of Himself) in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11, parentheses mine).

The Milta is the work God is doing in this world, in this universe, in all universes, from their beginning to their end. The manifestation of God is one big ACT, and God is the DOER. We just need to co-operate with Him, with His will, with His becoming. God's will is number one, for it is Him, and He, the Source of all things, is the only thing that matters.

The core of manifesting God is SPIRITUAL--being imbued with His Life in humility and submission, and MENTAL--thinking positively, lovingly, nobly, caringly, humbly, with faith, integrity, fidelity, kindness, patience, &c (i.e., manifest the nature and character of God as much as you know of them and can).

The Most High imagines. He has intention. The Milta is His "body": spiritual, mental, and physical. It is Mind . . . into this world.

A marriage ceremony performed today in this world touches that world. There is a real link established, or at least are available. "The two become one," not just between the man and the woman, but between this world and that world--if the link is taken. That world of Power is to us tiny, like a seed implanted inside us. There was a Garden in Eden LIKE the place the Seed of the Milta is in us. In the Garden God placed the Seed in a special, perfect Man to follow His will and to become His Milta. Yes, not following God's expressed will messed up that Man's becoming, but THE SECOND MAN'S--JESUS'--REDEMPTION OF US PUT US BACK THERE AGAIN, IF WE ACCEPT IT. Being back there--recognizing that you and your spouse are in and of it--is the secret of a long and happy marriage.

In other words, the secret of a long and happy marriage is the Guy, the Milta, the Manifestation of God we make our vows to. Keep Him in your world, and your world in His world, "that" world, every day. Submit your will to Him and let the Seed of God grow. Learn of Him, talk to Him, and especially listen to Him, and share that world with your partner.

Love your spouse as Christ has loved you. He went to the cross to get fallen you, to share His holy abundance with you.

"Come to me, all you mourners and carriers of burdens, and I shall give you Peace. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, as I am peaceful and gentle of heart, and you shall find Peace in your souls. For my yoke is pleasant and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-29 Alexander, emphasis mine). (The whole Bible is an introduction to this Guy.)

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* Milta, also Miltha, is the Aramaic word translated as Logos in the Greek New Testament. Jesus' native tongue was Aramaic, which the Jews adopted in their Babylonian captivity. In John 1:1, the Greek Logos is translated as Word. But the Aramaic is better translated as Manifestation: "In the beginning was God's Manifestation"--not just a communication or expression, but an all-encompassing ACT--God . . . in manifestation, a process of BECOMING.