But about the place and value of a religious ceremony
I do want to add a word. If a man and a woman realize that their love
is a sacred thing, I believe they will find they actually want to make
the great step into final intimacy in the presence of God, and to stop
for a moment ere they go up into that mysterious country to ask His
blessing and guidance. I have said that at a certain point love itself
demands intimacy, and that it is an entirely natural thing for us to
desire it. But none the less it _is_ a momentous hour in the life of
any couple when they pass behind the last barriers and enter on a
sacramental oneness of body. It is a wonderful hour--the hour of all
others when the romance of life is most splendid. But just because
it is that, and because the issues of that hour are so far-reaching,
what could be more seemly than that they should pause for a moment on
the threshold and ask the Giver of all love to bless and guide them!
To kneel first together before Him, and then to pass on--to acknowledge
His goodness as the author of love, and then to go up on to love's high
places, what could be more just to the real facts! I know not with what
solemnities those who do _not_ believe in God are going to dignify that
hour in life, but to all young men and women who _do_ believe in God, I
would like to say with all possible urgency: Be sure you do not take
that great step until you can ask God's blessing on the taking of it.
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