These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

The Joy of Lives Lived Together

As man and wife we stood, confessed,
"I choose you from this day.
In days of fun, in days distressed,
I'll honor and obey."

"Obey another human? Please,"
I hear the wags implode.
"What freedom comes in words like these?
Autonomy erodes."

Mayhaps the lives of self-made men,
and women selfish, too,
prefer the loneliness of sin,
unseen when it's all through,

but those, whose independence rests
depending on the Lord
will find their joy and happiness,
obeying His blest Word.

The lives rejecting singlehood
when called to married bliss
will know Life's freedoms and its good,
committing just to this,

The couplehood of man and wife
throughout these earthly days
will fill them both with joy and life
as God's Word they obey.

We thank the Lord for these long days.
At thirty-five they stand.
The future follows His blest Ways
to finish by His Plan.

by Jay O’Toole
on August 2nd, 2021