One seems such a small number.
One year began with a day. But what about what came before?
One day before the day that began the one year, two lives crossed with one meeting. A single meeting of two single people. That single meeting turned to one date just a few days later. Then another date. And another. As the number of dates increased, the singularity of the two single people became more ambiguous. They no longer considered themselves single.
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This became even more evident to them after the one first kiss. There was the only first one, but there’s always a first second one, and a first third one, and so forth. A proper tally during this one year would add up to the first kiss for the ten-billionth time. The first kiss on the first anniversary morning of the wedding would be the first ten-billionth-and-first kiss.
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It’s a little bit mind-bending, this whole issue of two single people who no longer consider themselves single. One year ago today, they vowed they would not only be not single but would always be together. One unit. A single entity. They promised to love each other, to bring each other out of a single status as two people to be married into one. A single status.
In this past year, they have already experienced so much. There is a certain intensity of depth that comes from cleaving unto each other. There are even terms that derive from such cleaving. Moments in books, movies, or real life that somehow relate to the marriage cause more poignant, even clevimental tears. Moments that are more lighthearted and cause the two people to share a secret wink or smirk or cause them to laugh at the same thing are full of clevity.
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In this past year, this single couple have shared so many singular yet infinitely precious moments.
- They have traveled parts of the United States and hiked various parts of Utah.
- They have experimented cooking various meals and desserts.
- They have decorated their apartment and added to their book collection.
- They have met different family members.
- They have attended concerts and other various cultural events.
- They have gone to theme parks.
- They have attended book clubs and readings.
- They have played with babies and laughed at kids at church.
- They have danced together. Like, a lot.
- They have sung to each other.
- They have spent time with friends in many ways and played weird card games with family.
- They have watched a lot of television and many movies.
- They have told each other how cute they are.
- They have talked about their respective jobs with each other.
- They have gotten accepted to grad school. Yes, both of them.
- They have prayed together.
- They have talked about their future.
- They have expressed how much they love each other, which makes them even more excited to keep talking about their future.
They are happy that talking about their future is part of their future. The meta-commentary becomes part of the metaphysical that will eventually become part of their reality. A singular reality.
They stand one year ahead of when they were married for time and all eternity. Two souls, one year. One year will turn into two, then three, and so forth. Those years will come.
For now, together, they look back on this one year.
It seems so huge.
February 22, 2013
On Facebook This Morning
Posted by mayiwrite under friends, government, grammar, links, lists, mormonism | Tags: church, comments, facebook, famous mormons, politics, scriptures, typos, unsubdued commenters |Leave a Comment
I posted an article whose headline was: “Mormon stake president gets political at church, laments election results.” Assumptions emerged and a few comments followed. Six.
The article doesn’t necessarily represent me or demonstrate that my testimony is crumbling. I hadn’t read the article when I posted it. I put it on my timeline to remind myself to read it later.
This afternoon, I read the article and the talk that the author referenced. Then I reread the comments from the Facebook thread. Then I reconsidered my initial responses to the comments.
1.
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6.
Two Sundays ago a guy gave a talk in Church and he said he’s majoring in communications and political science so that one day he can have his own conservative talk show like Brother Glenn Beck.
He went on to tell stories about Bible bashing on his mission. He brought up the scripture about casting your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). He kept saying, “Why NOT cast your pearls? You’ll never run out of pearls.”
He made it quite clear that he referred to those against whom he Bible-bashed as swine. And then he pretty blatantly compared pearls to ammunition. You’ll never run out of pearls. You’ll never run out of ammunition. You can just keep shooting at the swine.
His talk was about studying your scriptures with faith.
The aforementioned Matthew 24:24 is about being deceived by false Christs and false prophets. Much of the chapter uses apocalyptic language to describe the world before the Second Coming. I would guess that my friend, commenter #4, attributes the decline of morality in the world to these falsities.
I was bothered by the politics in both talks, not so much because I disagreed with them but because I knew there would be people in each congregation (and now among those who have read the article) who would cling to those few statements and use them as an excuse never to come back to church.
It’s definitely easier to say to hold strong in a church regardless of its imperfect members. But part of the reason the Church has a stance on political neutrality is to protect its imperfect members from themselves, to help us to use our hearts, to look past politics and into souls. Our souls are bigger and worth way more than the limits this fallen world puts on them.
There’s definitely a lot more to say. I’m tired.