Musings on marriage

LEAVING AND CLEAVING Gen 2:24
For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they two shall be one flesh...
 This verse started with, for this reason. What reason? We need to ask because we are considering a very vital issue here. The preceeding verse states that Adam said: this is now the bone of my bone. This is now, connotes that of all the other creatures that have passed before him, this is now, the bone of his bone. I can now leave other creatures and cleave to this one. If Adam was bird watching or lion feeding, or watching the cow grazing, he seemed to say, those are now secondary. I will leave those behind. I will see to this one bone of my bones. I will cleave unto her.
 
For this reason: that she was made for me,
for this reason:that she is the bone of my bone,
for this reason: that she is my help meet,
for this reason that: she is made from my  ribs
... I will cleave to her. 

To this I could add some other reasons to leave my father and mother and cleave to my wife.

For this reason: that God has given me a daughter of his,
for this reason: that I have obtained favour of the Lord by finding a wife,
for this reason: that she will do me good all the days of my life,
for this reason: that God has entrusted this lovely lady's life to me,
for this reason: that God has accounted me worthy to lead this sister about...

What does it mean to leave father and mother? One would almost think it is wicked to leave father and mother who has given you most things in life. And to leave them for a STRANGER. Just a minute. This person is not a stranger. Taking a cue from Adam again, what do you call your spouse? Definitely NOT A STRANGER. Part of the fundamental duty of a parent is to nurture and also to provide us with necessary things to stand on our own. Leaving our parents is supposed to be a healthy part of life. Sometimes despite the fact that our parents mean well, they may come in between us and our spouses.

For the person reading this, may I ask you a question? Have you left your father and mother? Are you ready  or how ready are you to leave your father and mother for the one and only?


So what about cleaving?
What does it mean to cleave? To stick to, through thick and thin. Like a stamp to a letter. Most people may not have considered or settled it in their minds before marriage that they are cleaving to each other no matter what. 

In what areas are we expected to cleave? Financial, physical, spiritual, (Marriage is a union), ministry, views, religious views...

Physical. This is easy to conceptualise. We all know that marriage is a union. It is easy to think that therefore it is a physical union. Yes it is but much more.It is interesting when I consider different versions of the bible on Gen 2 :24on cleaving. Consider these:

NIV: ... Be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh
NLT: ...joined to his wife, and the two are united into one
KJV... Shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh
ESV:...hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh


It is customary to hear during a wedding ceremony: marriage is a union between.... This union, joining, holding fast, cleaving goes beyond the physical. 
This kind of union will need full exposure to each other. Hiding nothing. I wonder how this kind of union is possible when couples claim that they do not know how their spouses spend their income or how much their spouses income is. If one does not know what one's spouse's plan, fears, what gives him joy... Is, how can one claim to be cleaving in this union?