rational, and spiritual; thus the man becomes more and more a man. (Conjugial
Love 59:1)
Of course, religion has in all times dealt with these questions – the
spiritual, the unseen, another dimension that somehow is part of our life and
that people have perceived in so many different ways. The basic ideas religions
deal with are these:
• Who is God and how does He relate to His creation?
• What happens when we die?
• How does the way we live our lives in this world affect our eternal
existence?
None of these questions can be answered from what we observe with our
senses. We cannot prove that any one view coincides with reality, because this
“reality” cannot be observed by the senses:
Step 1 – We run out of fuel. The car stops. That is easy to see.
Step 2 – How does our decision affect other people and nature? This is
more difficult to see.
Step 3 – Now it gets even more difficult, and maybe this example is not
the best to illustrate the point.
A better example would be finding your partner. The senses are very
active in such a decision:
Step 1 – The man sees a woman who attracts his eye, and she does the
same with him. The thought coming from that observation can be pretty
primitive.
Step 2 – Moral values come into the process. For some people the third
step – the spiritual – also comes into play.
In the New Church we have incredibly uplifting descriptions of how a
marriage begins by a consent built on what the senses tell, what moral aspects
say, but also how spiritual values play an important role. All three levels are
present. It is supposed to be a union of souls before it becomes a union in the
flesh. The soul or the spirit is something that can develop and grow to eternity.
The body is definitely bound to decay and die.
How much better it is then if the real marital relationship begins at the top,
in the spiritual. There will be a lasting, strong bond that will be much stronger
than any external bond can ever measure up to. Morality will be a given, and
the couple sees beauty in the externals because there is love and faithfulness
in their eyes. The rite of betrothal is aimed at making the internal bond strong
before the rest is made manifest. This is what it says in Conjugal Love, first
speaking of how a limited view makes it hard for us:
They who love corporeal natural things, and only from them love things rational,
cannot be conjoined with a consort as into a one. (Conjugial Love 59:2)
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