Saturday 20 April 2024

THE COST OF A MARRIAGE

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Once upon a time, a certain village in Timbuktu was to have a celebration. The king ordered every man in the village to pour a keg of 'agwatashi', a local brew, into a big tank at the village square. 

One man sat in his house and thought to himself "If everyman pours agwatashi and I pour water, no one will know". He went and poured water. Coincidentally and unfortunately, his next door neighbor thought same way and did same thing. 

On the day of the celebration, when the drink was fetched from the tank for the king to taste, he discovered it was water. Every man in that village thought same way. 

Marriage is like an empty tank, it is empty and can only be filled with what the spouses pour into it. No spouse should expect to drink what he or she hasn't contributed. One person's contribution is not and will never be enough. 

It's like a bank account, if you open an account and don't fund it, you can't withdraw from it. You can't also withdraw more than you deposited. Husbands and wives must learn to deposit what they want to withdraw and enjoy, that's how costly marriage is. 

Above is the reflection I gave at the wedding in my little church today. It happened to be the first wedding I witnessed and officiated since I took charge of that lovely church. 

Beside the official stipend set by the Archdiocese(which is below 5k), this wedding cost this couple nothing. They had it during morning mass and after some snapshots they joyfully went home. Maybe they entertained some family and friends in their home, shikena. 

In appreciation for being the first wedding I've witnessed, and for their humility to cut their coats according to their material, I donated a bag of rice and 20k for their honeymoon. 

The cost of MARRIAGE is too much already, let's not make WEDDING costly . We can't cut the costs of MARRIAGE, but we can cut the cost of WEDDING.

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