No longer two but one flesh.

But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

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I did not really understand what the phrase "the two shall become one flesh" meant until my first wife Ellen passed away in May of 1994. Here is a meditation that I penned, with many tears, in the months following her passing:

The Two Become One - Reversed

At every thought of her my heart breaks. It is like half of me is no longer alive. We were so much a part of each other that it is hard to go on without her.

My soul aches within me and there is no comfort except the knowing that she no longer suffers. Knowing that she is in the presence of God helps.

My flesh wants to move on with my life but my heart wants to remain in the past. Our life was so full together. It is hard to imagine happiness without my Ellen.
There is so much more than a uniting of flesh in holy matrimony. When the Lord joins a man and a woman there is a joining of souls. The idea of a soul mate has become a bit cliched these days but I believe it is such an accurate term because of the intimacy of spirit that a married couple can experience when they journey together with the Lord.

Help us Lord not to settle for less that your best in our marriages.