<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV>On Thu, 8 Apr 2004, B writes:</DIV>
<DIV>Top question..? How do you keep a marriage balanced, without
losing yourself? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Answer: You can't!</DIV>
<DIV>Hi, B & husband, here's my take: you two & the rest of you on
this list (including me) are incapable of keeping a marriage balanced. The
illustration I take to my secular classrooms is a photograph this old
man took in Afghanistan back in the 50s. It is a picture of a donkey and a
buffalo yoked together while pulling a heavy sled behind them
crushing the wheat grains from the stalks. Because they are unequal in gait,
strength, etc., they cannot walk a straight line and are doomed to go around in
circles. (<EM>2 Corinthians 6:14</EM> sound familiar concerning business
partners, marriage partners, buddies'friends, or any other kinds of
liaisons?)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Question: If two unequal critters are prone to go around in circles (that
the writer Paul is stating which eludes us city-slickers in our culture), how
does the farmer get the two joined ones from Point A (the barn) to Point B (the
threshing table) when the path is a straight line and there are
irrigation ditches on either side of the path? In just a few moves, both
creatures will be mired in the mud with their inequality. Right, B?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Answer (to avoid a lot of needless speculations wasted on the net):
The farmer knows the propensity of two <U>different</U> beating hearts. So he
walks along side the <STRONG>helpless</STRONG> legs, and depending which side he
is on, he will either push or pull against the wooden timber across their
necks (the yoke) to compensate for their inequality. Rather labor
intensive.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Like a mouse hitched up to an elephant, we also are incapable of
"keeping a marriage balanced." (It is impossible to "loose yourself" alone; both
lose out simultaneously. Think.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The bigger question is, Who is the Farmer in your marriage? Who
do you allow to keep you two on a straight line with purpose and
direction? Who calls the shots? What's your base?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>To the praise of our Sovereign's glory, have a blessed Easter
celebration,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mac</DIV></BODY></HTML>