For Once, I Agree with Tertullian

Deep down, I think Tertullian was one big softie.

Sure, Tertullian is the guy who said all sorts of misogynistic things about the women of his day. He did.

But then he also said this:

“How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in hope, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice. They are as brother and sister, both servants of the same Master. Nothing divides them, either in flesh or in spirit. They are, in very truth, two in one flesh; and where there is but one flesh there is also but one spirit. They pray together, they worship together, they fast together; instructing one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another. Side by side they visit God’s church and partake of God’s Banquet; side by side they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations. They have no secrets from one another; they never shun each other’s company; they never bring sorrow to each other’s hearts. ” (Ad Uxorem II, 8, 7)

Pretty good, right?

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, in case you missed the millions of Mother’s Day memes posted on Tumblr. Or the mom and kid candids that graced facebook walls. Or the 140 character twitter tributes.

In that spirit, and in the spirit of Tertullian’s celebration of marriage, I thought I would use this space today to celebrate and honor the best mom we’ve here in the Dixon house. After all, not only was yesterday Mother’s Day, today is Amy’s birthday.

But when I went to her to ask if I could dedicate a post to how generous she is with others, how patient she is with our kids, how creative she is with her stories, how stinkin’ wise she is always, how humble she aspires to be, how serious she is about growing in her faith, how I love how we are constantly on the same page about the things that matter, how every morning I wake up thanking God that I get to be married to this amazing person…

…when I asked her if I could share these things, if I could shout them from the cyber rooftops…

…she said “no.”

So I won’t. I’ll take a pass. Instead I’ll just say, “When it comes to my marriage, I agree with Tertullian.”