Joseph Campbell, an American Professor working in comparative religion and mythology said, “Marriage is not a love affair, it’s an ordeal. It is a religious exercise, a sacrament, the grace of participating in another life.”

The grace of participating in another life. He went on to say, “Successful marriage is leading innovative lives together, being open, non-programmed. It’s a free fall: how you handle each new thing as it comes along. As a drop of oil on the sea, you must float, using intellect and compassion to ride the waves.”

Perhaps that is the greatest gift of all: someone to float with. Someone whose hand you hold when you are riding high on the wave, and when the bottom seems to fall out. There you are – together. You still have your personal desires, experiences and dreams; and in marriage you have someone who supports your desires, experiences and dreams as you support theirs.

Joseph Campbell continued, “For the gentle heart, marriage must first be spiritual…The idea of the gentle heart involves a sense of responsibility to the person. If that is not there, you have not got love, you’ve got something else. If that is there, it will last….What I’m saying is, not that responsibility constitutes love, but that love without a sense of responsibility is not love…”

In marriage, yes, you have love, compassion, strength and gentleness, but you also are responsible to one another, and that creates a kind of power: The power of Oneness

For a successful marriage you must recognize you have always been together. You have a Oneness of spirit that has always existed and always will. What you do when you marry is acknowledge and embrace that Oneness, which is actually an essential part of who you are. You are making that Oneness the fulcrum, the center point, of your life. And that fulcrum provides balance, safety, support, peace and playfulness with the foundation of love and respect.