Fr Jim Cogley
An Eastern story tells of a father who when he was dying gave a lot of advice to his son on a range of issues. One piece his son found quite confusing. It was that he should marry a new wife every day. As a good and loyal son he wanted to obey his father’s wishes to the last detail, but this left him with a big problem. However, after a long search, a beautiful girl accepted the deal and got married on the understanding that next day she would be divorced and he would marry someone else. Next morning when he asked her to leave she refused saying that he had misunderstood his fathers instructions. He never meant that he should marry a new girl every day but that he should treat his wife every day as if they had just got married. He felt that, knowing his father, she was right, and so they stayed together and enjoyed a happy married life. If we really understood the impermanent nature of life we would treat our wife or husband as if we were newly wed and give them all our love because our time together can end at any time. The shortness of life has the potential to teach us wisdom of heart