Build-a-Book Report # 8

I've decided to give my blog readers on Tuesdays sneak previews into selections from my proposed book. I can't guarantee they will appear in the final version as written here, but I do want to bring you in on the fun part of writing, as much as possible. Meaning, it is a joy to see ideas move from the mind to the page and create thought-provoking ideas.

Here's one on one of my most heart-wrenching subjects: the expanding rate of divorce.

Divorce Has Become Commonplace

There has always been a need for divorce. People are human. They make mistakes. Even in Jesus' time 2000 years ago, he addressed the need for society to tolerate divorce, but with restrictions. Why the restraints? Because people get deeply hurt in a divorce--the worst, most stressful experience next to death, psychologists say. I suspect those who are hurt most in a divorce are the children living in that household. Studies have shown that, no matter how hard parents try to make it easier for the kids, it tears them apart in a rift they will never fully recover from. Like grieving a death, the children can move on. The hurt can heal over, on the surface. But the impact is always there, for a lifetime. Children's greatest need is for stability in their home life. That's why a child will opt to stay in a home that leaves a lot to be desired, emotionally. Divorce breaks their sense of security into two pieces. "Doesn't anything last, in my life? What can I depend on, for sure?"

It should come as no surprise that a rising rate of divorce would accompany the advent of the "me-first" self-actualization movement. Marriage is hard. It takes work and sacrifice. Before the present self-obsessed era, struggling married couples often stayed together solely "for the sake of the children." They found they had to work harder at working together, just to keep the household from steady turmoil. In doing so, they realized they could make things work and even come to appreciate and enjoy one another in the process, saving and rejuvenating their marriage.

A nation is only so strong as its people are contented and energized by the family and friends who support them. If we want to keep our nation strong, we must work to strengthen the basic social institution on which a society is founded---the generic family. Divorce cannot help but weaken people's personal lives, carrying over into every other aspect of their lives. If we want to leave our children with a good, strong nation to live in, we have to work on this blight in our society. The place to start is with our attitudes towards marriage.

God bless you with a great week. Enjoy the late, but finally here coming of Spring.

Your blogging book-writing friend,

Margaret