Love Letters

Donnette shares two letters sent between her parents, Donald and Marjorie Rose, nearly 100 years ago, as they were enduring a summer apart before being married. She draws comfort from how they envisioned their separation, and takes these lessons to heart in her own widowhood. -Editor

Donald Frank Rose, was born in England in June 1880 and came to Bryn Athyn in 1908 or 1909. Here he met Marjorie Wells (born in Philadelphia in 1880) and they fell in love. After they were engaged, Don had to return to England for the summer of 1911.

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Possible Married Partners: One or Many?

Judah examines choosing a partner to marry from two different perspectives, the Lord's omniscience and the individual's limited viewpoint. Humans desire certainty but paradoxically would resist directives from an authoritarian god. Judah arrives at consent as the bridge between these two perspectives. - Editor

I need to find my soul mate

Have you ever said, heard, or felt something like this before? Everlasting love is a theme in cultures around the world and one that’s especially prevalent in the New Church, where it’s often called conjugial or married love. Needing to find a soul mate implies that there is one out there—and that we need to be certain he or she is the right one; which leads us to a question: is there only one possible married partner for each of us or are there many? (I use the term “married partner” for what in broader culture might be called a “soul mate”.) So is there one or many? There are two very different answers to this question, depending upon whether we’re dealing with the Lord’s perspective or ours.

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