On a warm night in Roseville a family gathered to celebrate fifty years of marriage. Parents, children, grandchildren, other family and friends came together in a demonstration of the accord that Baha'u'llah revealed will proceed and form the basic unit of world unity. That same world unity, built on a foundation of lasting marriage, will lead humanity to the Most Great Peace. The Most Great Peace will be ushered in at a time in the far off future when mankind will love as brothers, when the lion-like personalities will reside with the lamb-like personalities in complete amity.
In the presence of Baha'is and non-Baha'is alike, the couple basked in their love for each other, for God, for all who were present and for the world at large. Their grandchildren, youths of character and lofty ideals, spoke eloquently of the support and feelings of confidence that having their grandparents (and parents) together have given them throughout their lives.
Marriage at its core if a family affair, it is a commitment not only of the couple to each other but involves vows made to God and is therefore not to be taken lightly. Folk entering into marriage vow to live committed to a spiritual tradition and a wish to have a marriage that includes faith, with God at its center.
The Baha'i Faith, the most recent among the world's religions (170 years old) offers beneficial insights on dating, courtship, marriage and family life. The perspectives from its teachings will be invaluable to you as you prepare for marriage. You need not be a Baha'i to find them applicable on your journey towards creating a spiritually based marriage.
Laws and spiritual practices from religious traditions guide individuals and society to act in ways that benefit themselves and others. The Baha'i law of parental consent for marriage, for instance, promotes family unity, something that people from any spitirual tradition are likely to appreciate. Often people may voice a conflict between wanting to act as freely as they choose and the requirement to follow laws. However, contrary to what they might say, they may find that "just" laws provide a structure that allows the individual to move more freely and to lead happier lives! One example of this phenomenon is the metaphor of the traffic signal that was mentioned in the book "Marriage Can Be Forever". Without the guidelines that the signal lght offers, there would be gridlock at intersections, unable to proceed and often involved in harmful, perhaps fatal accidents.
It may assist people of other faiths in their understanding to know that Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, teaches that there is only one God and that religious truths taught by Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and many others is all one continuous whole but that their teachings are progressive and each one's teachings build on the other. As humanity progresses, more truth is revealed to him.
We wish our joyful couple success for the next fifty years knowing that, perhaps, a portion of that commitment will continue throughout the ages in some of the next worlds of God.