Crucified

When Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ..." he was talking about the crucifixion of his old life and not his suffering. Yet Paul suffered greatly and I imagine there were many times he felt crucified. Maybe that is not a bad way to think of it as we try to be imitators of Christ.

I have a friend who I think has been crucified. That comparison gives hope in light of the resurrection. After some dark days there is new life. I think that is a good thought when going through suffering. New life is just around the corner.

The harder part for me is reflecting on how Jesus responded to the people who crucified him. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Okay, so I have a hard time with that. They are adults so they should be responsible to know what they are doing. But Jesus' response is profoundly good.

Desperate To Get Married

In 1960 the average age for a woman in America to get married was 20. By 1990 it was raised to 23. In 2013 it is 27. That's quite a jump since 1990 and I have read pluses and minuses to the increasing age of first marriages. But at this moment I can name four young women that I know who are younger than that and seem desperate to get married and I wonder if they are caught in the middle of this shift.

Desperation can lead to poor choices and I wonder if there are any statistics on the marriage success rate of marriages born out of desperation. I'm not even sure how you would measure that. It just stands to reason that you would be starting out on the wrong foot. 

Of course it may be just my judgment that these women are throwing themselves at bad situations and maybe these relationships are better than I suspect. I am not really saying that these guys they are chasing are losers either. I'm just saying they don't really seem ready for that level of relationship.

This got me thinking about why these women settle when they have so much to offer. I don't claim to know anything about biological clocks but I wonder if the late average age for marriage is part of the problem. It seems that in past decades there were a lot more people thinking seriously about marriage at a much earlier age. That would mean that for someone looking to get married they would find plenty of possible partners. In 2013 that pool of partners is significantly smaller and I would guess that that is frightening for someone desperate to get married.

The fear of missing your opportunity is strong but I think making sure you have a solid foundation for a relationship makes up for it. I have a strong urge to yell "relax and be patient" but I don't think they would find it very helpful.

One last thing, There could be just as many desperate young men out there as there are women. Ijust don't know any.