week 5 - Who would want to spend an eternity with a companion for whom he/she has no friendship?

This last week I had opportunity to begin reading an interesting book called The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work by John M. Gottman and Nan Silver. This book, a reading requisite for the FAML 300 course, is surprisingly interesting. The author, an emeritus psychology professor, and famous writer, developed an important research method based on the observation of several physical and psychological traits of individuals in a control environment which he called Love Lab. The data collected and analyzed during many years serves as the most important tool for his couple therapy methodology, and literature thesis.
Gottman’s book main claim, which I agree in part, is that deep friendship is the key for happy marriages. “Friendship fuels the flame of romance because it offers the best protection against adversarial toward your spouse” (Gottman 2). I said in part because friendship could not be enough, a deep understanding of the purpose of marriage is, in my view, essential to achieve, not only temporal happiness, but also, and most importantly, an eternal happiness.
H. Wallace Goddard, in his book Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage, marvelously rise the purpose of marriage to new levels, “Marriage is ordained by God” (Goddard 7). For those that believe in God, which is my case, and try to follow His teachings and commandments, knowing that marriage is not a simple contract made by men, but a transcendent covenant involving a man a woman and God, may feel, although I confess that I have not the power to completely see all the magnitude and divine potential of an infinite and eternal marriage, an overwhelming hope and joy that are especially linked to the sealing promises of the temple ordinances.
Therefore, Gottman’s friendship principle when magnified by the eyes of eternity becomes even more important. Who would want to spend an eternity with a companion for whom he/she has no friendship?

 References

Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work : A Practical Guide From the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert. New York: Harmony.




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