Lifelong Love Aflame

Sometimes, you know a book will become a favorite, even before you buy it. When I found out that Sam and Bethany Torode had compiled a book of "ancient wisdom on marriage," I knew it would be a good one. And when Aflame arrived in my mailbox today, I felt I could write the review even before cracking its cover.

But as I peaked through its pages over lunch, I liked it even more than I had judged by cover alone. Gem after gem of truth on marriage, arranged by topic, illustrated--not with provocative statues--but photographs of fields and flowers and trees. An asthetically delightful and mentally challenging little book, it's the perfect wedding gift, and an excellent addition to anyone's library.

Here is just a tiny taste of what you will find inside the covers of Aflame...

"Do not be obstinate when your gentle wife offers you her love. You are not a master, but a husband. What you have acquired is not a servant, but a wife. God designed you to be a guide to her, not a dictator. Share in her activities. Share in her love."
-Ambrose of Milan

"St. Paul does not despite physical unity, but uses spiritual unity to illustrate it. How foolish are those who belittle marriage! If marriage were something to be condemned, Paul would never call Christ a bridegroom and the Church a bride."
-John Chrysostom

"The faithful wife, when she devotes herself to her husband, sincerely serves God."
-Clement of Alexandria

Aflame: Ancient Wisdom on Marriage
compiled by Sam and Bethany Torode
at ChristianBook.com
at Amazon.com

But I can't close this post without mentioning my other favorite gift to give at weddings. If your tastes tend more to poetry, Ruth Bell Graham's own poems of love to her husband (some written even before she had met him) are a beautiful tribute to lifelong love!

It was so very good of God
to let my dreams come true,
to note a young girl's cherished hopes,
then lead her her right to you;
so good of Him to take such care
in little, detailed parts
(He knows how much details mean
to young and wishful hearts);
so good of Him to let you be
tall and slender, too,
with waving hair more blonde than brown
and eyes of steel blue.
-Ruth Bell Graham, Never Let it End

Never Let it End: Poems of a Lifelong Love
by Ruth Bell Graham
at ChristianBook.com
at Amazon.com

P.S. My man and I have two other books that are absolute favorites: You're in Love, Charlie Brown and Love is Walking Hand in Hand. I cherish the fun times when he reads them to me. As Charles Schulz writes, "Love is being happy just knowing she's happy...but that isn't so easy."