exceedingly tolerant. Nor does he stop the clergyman pronouncing that the man and woman are indissolubly one. He will be mildly surprised; because so far as he can see, nothing has happened. Nothing magical anyway to warrant this uncompromising pronouncement.
The only people whom God is in the least interested in marrying are the people whom he knows and loves; in other words the people who say their prayers day in, day out: year in, year out. How can he be interested in marrying anybody else? These are the people, indeed the only people, who treat him as a person. These are the only people from whom he can extract a binding promise, and demand that they keep it. These are the only people who really want him to marry them. These are the only people who have any compelling reason for being true to one another, and resisting alluring and attractive temptation; they know that if they are false to one another, they will break each other's hearts, and they will break God's too. Few people ever stop to consider the pain and humiliation which they inflict by their behaviour, on the God whom they say created them.
It has to be admitted that God is a very awkward person. Jung in his book “ Answer to Job” gives a fascinating study of poor Job's confrontation with the Almighty. Jung treats the subject with considerable reverence, but also with truthfulness. His analysis is stimulating. Another person too thought that he was very awkward. There is a story about Teresa in her old age. She felt obliged to go on a journey, there was a flood, her coach overturned, and she broke her arm. Somewhat understandably she complained to God, about first sending her on this awful journey, and then allowing disaster to overtake her. God replied “That is how I always treat my friends”. Teresa replied with irony and becoming dignity, “Perhaps that is why you have so few” .
To summarise therefore, looking through God's eyes, marriage in Church…