Why Do We Marry?

I've spoken with couples who tell me they're perfectly happy just living together, but after a few years they wanted to marry. Now, you conclude, I assume, they wanted to have children. No! Why people marry is complex and I have little time here to fully explore the topic. But I'll say this much: we marry to puncutate the sentence; we marry to illuminate the picture; we marry to send the message that this is real.

We marry to make an intimate trust a public decree and let the world know we are committed. We marry because institutional signature matters, and this is why the legal authority for same sex couples to marry in Massachusetts matters. Whatever our sexual orientation, we marry because the power of two, recognized fully in the community, is a foundation of strength to ourselves and to others.

We never marry merely because we love another; we marry because our love has power. And the power of love moves mountains.