A young couple came to see me. They were both attractive, intelligent people. They wished to be married but they had an unusual request to change the wedding vows.

For them, it was important to approach this marriage in honesty and truth and they both felt they simply could not promise to love each other for the rest of their lives.

They didn’t know what the future might bring, what problems or opportunities might arise that would lead them apart.

It would be foolish, they reasoned, to make such a vow and so they suggested that they vow only to remain married for "as long as we both shall love".

Their honesty was both appealing and appalling.

I appreciated their desire to live lives of honesty but I grieved over their unwillingness to commit everything to making sure that happened.

There is no question in my mind that committing to a life-long relationship is, in many ways, an extremely foolish thing to do but there is also no question in my mind that such commitment brings with it a lifetime of meaning, purpose and joy.