Will you still need me?

Last time I wrote about the process of unpacking boxes following our fairly recent house move.  This blog begins on a similar note. One of the boxes I managed to attack a few days ago contained all my old LPs.  Unlike many people, we still do have a record player, though it is rarely brought into action.  I have had a quick look through; a few LPs may be worth trying to resell on eBay (a Beatles album being one example), but most are pretty worthless financially and unlikely to be played again, so will probably have to be disposed of one way or another.  Not surprisingly, relatively few people play records these days - even CDs seem to be almost a medium of the past!

I came across an LP by Cliff Richard which triggered a particular memory from many years ago.  Sue and I may have been courting at the time (I love that word, even if it is a little old fashioned).  I am not absolutely sure whether we were officially "an item", but I'm sure that I wanted us to be (my courting of Sue was quite a struggle, but that's another story!)  On the particular occasion I am thinking of, Sue was round at my house.  A Cliff album was playing at the time.  Just as I nipped to the kitchen to make us a coffee, the track "When I'm 64" happened to start playing. 

I didn't think of it has having any particular significance, but Sue was obviously listening to the words, which include the following: "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"  I was a little nonplussed when, as I walked back into the room with Sue's coffee, she said in quite a strident voice, "The answer's 'No!'"  It took me a while to realise what she meant.  Perhaps she had thought that I was using Cliff's song as a third party chat-up line!  I hope that these days Sue might give a different answer: after all, we have both turned 60 this year, so not long to go!

I guess that the heart of the song addresses the issue of a long-term commitment in a relationship.  I was privileged to lead a wedding service last Saturday.  It was a very happy occasion as the bride and groom committed their lives together in front of their family and friends.  The previous weekend Sue and I had attended the 25th wedding anniversary celebrations of two friends of ours, at which they reaffirmed their wedding vows: another wonderful occasion.

Every married couple know that it's relatively easy to make vows to one another, but rarely so easy to keep them.  The vows which a couple exchange in a wedding service are amongst the biggest and most serious commitment a human being can make.  It's probably true to say that every marriage goes through sticky times.  So how do we handle those hard times?  How do we maintain that commitment to one another?

During last Saturday's wedding service I spoke about a verse in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, which says,  

'Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.' Ecclesiastes 4:12

A husband and wife committed to each other in love and trust can create a strong bond.  But if we include God in our marriage (making a chord of three strands), our relationship will be so much stronger.  I know that in our marriage there have been times when Sue and I have had to rely on the love and power of God to keep us together.  With God's help our marriage can last to the 64s and well beyond!