“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
This weekend Dan Jensen cleaved unto Andrea Reade. Dictionary.com tells me that the word “cleave” comes from the Middle English “cleven,” which in turns comes from the Old English “cleofian.” The relevant definitions for the modern word are as follows:
1. To adhere, cling, or stick fast.
2. To be faithful: cleave to one’s principles.
I don’t know what word was in the original Genesis text, but I think cleave works pretty well. Three years into my own marriage, I especially like the words in the first part of the definition: “adhere, cling, stick fast.”
To cleave, then, is to be like crazy glue. This reveals a deep truth about marriage. You glue things together that might otherwise come apart. You promise in marriage to stick fast to each other – even though you will sometimes feel like running far away.
Sally, Francis, and I flew out to California to watch Dan and Andrea promise to stick fast to each other. We had a great time. Click on the picture or the title to see a lot of pictures from the weekend.
Also, wherever you are when you read this, take a moment to raise a glass to this happy couple and join in this belated toast. Cheers.
And if you don’t have a drink handy, go buy them something from their registry.
