Above all else

The newspapers today covered the latest Population Trends report, showing that the rate of singlehood is on the rise, and that those who do get married, tend to get married later.  By comparison, I got married pretty early, at 26.  My wife was only 24.  This in turn means our kids are generally more grown up compared to the majority of our peers.  When younger friends or colleagues find out about this, one question I sometimes get asked is, how did you know when you're ready to be married?  Or ready to have kids? My answer is usually this.  I was never really ready.  Once you're out of puberty, people stop maturing merely through the passage of time.  We mature through the experience of events.  Whether we're 20 or 50, if we're not yet married, then we're not ready to be married.  If we're not yet a parent, we're not ready to be a parent.  Like swimming or cycling, we can buy the floats, the trunks, the bicycles...

I had cause to talk to a friend yesterday about God.  One of the things that men like to pride ourselves about is that we are logical, and we operate on facts.  And men often say that's the reason why we can't accept faith in God. So why then do I accept faith in God?  I too pride myself in being logical and demanding facts before I accept something as the truth.  But look back at that sentence.  See the word "pride"?  I don't think it's the lack of logic or facts that stops men from coming to God.  It's pride.  And I can totally empathise with that.  Believing in God ultimately involves surrender.  Not surrender of logic.  But surrender of will to the One who knows better.  There is a huge difference between the two, but it's convenient to confuse them.  Like you, I  too want to hold on to my plans and desires, and when confronted with an alternative - God's alternative - we say, that's not logical, when reall...