Relationships nourish us in ways nothing else can. It's the relationships that help unrush us. Relationships can complicate things. But they also have the power to force us into a much simpler rhythm.

The need to belong goes beyond the need for superficial social ties . . . it is a need for meaningful, profound bonding.

Great love is two people making the choice to be a match. A decision.

If we commit ourselves to one person for life, this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather, it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession but participation.

More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

There is no greater place for damage (than marriage) because there is no greater place for glory.

Marriage is the sanctuary of the heart. You have been entrusted with the heart of another human being. Whatever else your life's great mission will entail, loving and defending this heart next to you is part of your great quest.

You learn a great deal about the true nature of a person in the way they love, why they love, and, in what they love.

We are, all of us, utterly committed and deeply devoted to our style, our way, our approach to life. We have absolutely no intention of giving it up. Not even for love. So God creates an environment where we have to. It's called marriage.

Must live maturely, knowing that whatever else is happening, we must preserve the relationship if we would find our way.

Church is not a building. Church is not an event that takes place on Sundays. I know, it's how we've come to think of it. "I go to First Baptist." "We are members of St. Luke's." "Is it time to go to church?" Much to our surprise, that is not how the Bible uses the term. Not at all. Certainly, the body of Christ is a vast throng, millions of people around the globe. But when Scripture talks about church, it means community.

I simply align myself with you again today.