the pathos of it all

The California State Assembly last night struck down Assembly Bill (AB) 19 which if signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would have made same-sex marriage legal in California. There is one perspective here that I don't often read about in the dialogue between those in favor of same-sex marriage and those against it. At a time when marriage is being taken for granted by many heterosexual folks out there, when its value and its indissolubility is lost on couples who can get legally married, when marriage is just seen as one more commodity that can be easily disposed of through divorce when one has grown "weary" with one's spouse--here we have a group of people, same-sex couples, who are longing to have their unions recognized because they perhaps know and see the immense value of the institution of marriage. There is tremendous pathos here. And I can't help but just see it.

No, this is not a call to legalize same-sex marriage; rather it's a call for those folks out there who can get legaly married (especially Catholic couples) to be even more mindful of the gift they have through marriage--that they are allowed to take part in this institution. It is a call for them to enter into marriage even more solemnly and reverently, knowing that this is a lifelong covenant. We live in a very disposable society where not only goods, but also peoples, relationships, and marriages are easily disposed of. Look for a moment at the couples who cannot receive what you have been given as gift.