What is the tie that binds? Part one

 At the end of Mark chapter nine, Jesus says something very interesting and intriguing. "Salt is good: but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

I was wondering what he could of meant with this verse so like most curious Bible students I consulted several commentaries to see what men who are much more intelligent and educated than I had to say. Of course, they all mention the fact that salt adds flavor to food and it is a preservative. In days gone by people used to preserve their meat by packing it in salt.

I guess I was looking for an explanation a little more edifying, something that I could use in my own life.

So, after praying, using James' advice in chapter one verse five which says, "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you." I then set out to find what hidden treasures there might be in Mark nine's final verse.

By reading on into chapter 10 we see Jesus giving a pretty clear explanation on how he feels about marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Verses 6-9 says, "But God made them male and female from the beginning of creation. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together." He goes on to say in verses 11-12, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery."

Incidentally Paul speaks to this issue in his letter in first Corinthians chapter seven. His instructions pretty much parallels Jesus' teaching.

The purpose of this article is not to give my position on divorce and remarriage but to gain some insight on how to preserve marriage. If we could discover the secret to a healthy marriage then divorce wouldn't even be an issue.

Ruth and I will be celebrating 60 years of marriage next July. When we celebrated 50 years I looked up the statistics on how many couples celebrate 50 years together. The statistics tell us that 1 in 20 or 5% make it.  Incidentally the statistic for 60 years is 1 in 100 or 1%.

Going for the long shot seems to be a lofty goal, albeit a difficult one. 

So, are there any secrets or tips or is there a prescription to help make it happen?

When I contemplated this challenging  study I wondered if the end of chapter 9 and what he addresses in the beginning of chapter 10 is somehow connected.

One of the principles of hermeneutics is context.

I do realize that there is probably a few days between the events of these two chapters and there certainly are a few miles of distance between the events but I still wondered, "Could there be a connection?"

One of my goals in writing articles, and I learned it when I wrote newspaper articles, is to keep them short. So, I know that this may not seem fair but I am going to continue this search for valuable nuggets next week.