Bro. Mo. is so hot when he talks about mushy stuff

Seems like I have been writing a bunch about marriage and relationships lately. And, I guess it is fitting as my anniversary is swiftly approaching. Bro. Mo. came to me this afternoon as he and I were busily making our co-op dinner together and asked me to read a portion of a book he is devouring for the umpteenth time. The Kingdom and the Crown series by Gerald N. Lund of the Seventy. I love that he took the time to gently point me to the page and say "read from here to here." I will paraphrase some of my favorite parts of the excerpt.

Peter is talking to his son and his son's friend who are both abuot to be betrothed. He explains that the first marriage was performed by God himself and that there is much in the wording of the scriptures that we can learn about marriage. After Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden and some time had passed, God said it was not good for man to be alone. "After declaring that it is not good for man to be alone, the Holy One of Israel made a second, most significant declaration. He said 'I shall make an help meet for him.'" The important parts that are brought out in the story are the true Hebrew meanings of the words. The literal translation of the original Hebrew is help meet. Not helper or help mate. Helper would imply a superior role for men and a helping or inferior role for women. 'Meet' means to have two things brought together. But it carries a much deeper connotation, where one finds something that is equal to something else. In other words, a help meet is a person who helps us 'meet ourselves,' like looking into a mirror and seeing yourself.

Then the author brings out the story of the creation of Eve and the significance of taking a rib from Adam's side to create woman. There is much to learn from why Eve was created from a rib. One reason is that it is closest the man's heart suggesting that she should walk beside him always. But the deeper meaning is this: If Eve had been taken from Adam's head then she would rule over him. If she were taken from his foot, he would rule over her. If from his hand she would be only a tool to do his bidding. To be taken from his side is beautiful imagery and teaches us how to treat each other. The commandment is to become one flesh. Adam now has a helpmeet, or in other words, he has finally met his equal. "Therefore--in other words, because I have created woman and brought her to you--'therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife.'" This is the last point. To cleave means to cut asunder, to split into two parts. (Like a camel with a cloven hoof.) But in the Hebrew that word also carries an opposite meaning. It means to put back together two things that have been separated, to join them so tightly one to the other it is as if there was no original separation. Here is the key to understnding how God views this sacred relationship between a man and a woman. Adam had something cut away from him, cloven from his side. He was missing something. He was not whole any longer. So what is the solution? How does a man or woman become whole again? By cleaving to the only creation that is truly equal to us. And when we cleave together--or better, cleave back together--we become whole once again. We become not two, but one--one in flesh, one in mind, one in spirit. Then, and only then can we be fully complete.

(taken from The Kingdom and the Crown, vol. 3)