Dating prior to marriage is an unprecedented and unchristian cultural wave of terrorism that hit the shores of social nexus and religious norms zealously cherished till the former part of the last century. This new club culture has almost wiped out the traditional values and religious concepts and practices prevailed since the beginning of time of arranging marriages in accordance with the wishes and blessings of parents and relatives. The synchronizing purity and unity of body, mind and spirit (soul) in thought, word or deed is indispensable for Temple worship, the place where the culmination of the totality and universality of our devotional worship come in unison with. The H.temple is the congregating venue of the holy people to worship the Holy God. He lives only in pious hearts (Mt.5: 48;Rev.3: 20-21). There is no sex in Heaven because it is the world of saintly spirits. The living man on this earth also is a spirit, tethered with an invisible cord, like an embryo’s umbilical cord in its mother’s womb, to the perishable body.

The ascetics are helped in liberating from the clutches of physical bondage and getting in communion with the cosmic world of spirits, like that of St.Paul’s teletransportation (2.Cor.12: 3) to Paradise, by the involuntary function of the cord that is always connected between the inner and physical man. The total worth of this mortal body, basing on the cost of elements contained in it, may not go beyond $10. This delicate frame is only a carcass, a great nothing, devoid of the Spirit of God. Man is more than his biology or chemistry just as adding a one to the left of zeros multiplies the value of them in Geometrical Progression. God is that great one or unit. It is the Spirit that gives life; flesh is of no avail. (Jn.6: 63; 15:5) Man is created in the image and likeness of God so as to replenish this earth left void by the fall of Lucifer and his legions. They are not of this world; even as I am not of this world...I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth (Jn.17: 16-23).

Man, the agent of God, is endowed with sex for the dissemination of the race by reproducing as many angels like men to fill the vacancies (rooms) eventuated by the fall of Lucifer (Jn.14: 2). Procreation means creating for somebody or playing the role of God. As representative and resemblance of the H.Trinity on earth, Adam was granted permission for the procreation and replenishing the earth. When Adam was alone, he represented the H.Trinity in a miniature form in the celestial as well as in biological dimensions. Eve was created from Adam and children were born by their union only after the fall. Sexuality was in its dormant stage before the fall. This can be correlated by a loose analogy with the Nicene Creed statement: “The H.Spirit proceeds from the Father; and who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified”. This comes to be true in the empirical, say biological sense as well.

That which proceeds from the father begets the progeny, the seeds of which are already in the loins, together with the union of the mother who receives the seeds. Children are a thing of beauty and joy (worship) and glory for the parents. The anomaly created from the confusion about the H.Triune, if any, become transparently clear when we realize that there is no femininity in the celestial plane. What I want to drive home is this. Parenthood and the procreation process is a homogeneous and sanctimonious duplicity of the work of the H.Trinity through man reflecting the nature and work of the H.Triune. The main two commandments to worship God in truth and spirit and procreate the species and caring them with celestial love are the sacrosanct work of God entrusted upon us. The clerical hierarchy is the ambassadors of God for the Altar and the laity mainly is meant for procreation, supplying holy men for the Altar and good Samaritans for the care and nourishment of the society at large. The sex organs lie out side the boundary of the soul, which is being constrained in between the waist and its apex at the zenith of our head, just like the position of an embryo in its mother’s womb.

THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY:
The similarity of connecting the inner man with the physical one by an invisible cord is visibly correlated by the union of two complementing partners as one body (Mt.19: 6), doing the metabolic functions by exchanging enzymes and other nutrients for their physical and mental growth, as Adam and Eve were once together in one body. They attain the cyclic maturity of their bodies and spirits by complementing spiritual and physical communion in a span of lifetime. Celibates or spinsters, as well as a married couple, do the work of God for the transformation of themselves and the dear and near ones. Spiritual metamorphosis comparatively is inhibited in a family couple because of the duplicities and vividness of roles they have to accomplish, whereas an unmarried person, though wading through a river of inexplicable adversities and hurdles, equips oneself to liberate the ripe soul from the tentacles of the earthly bondage (1.Cor.7: 16-39). Jesus also nods that the life of a eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, in contrast, is more affable than the life of married people. But there are married persons without having the wedding gowns, too. For many are called, but few are chosen. Heaven is opened for both married and unmarried people, but both are expected to evolve to the stage of children (Mt.19.14-15) for the attainment of Heavenly manhood (Eph.4: 12-15;Mt.5: 45) like the angels in Heaven (Mt.22: 30) .It is well for a man not to touch a woman (1.Cor.7: 1,7;Rev.14: 4).” So in whatever manner (whether married or unmarried) each was called, there let him remain with God”.

EXPECTATIONS OF MARRIED LIFE:
It is said that marriage takes place in Heaven, though there is no marriage or married life there. The magnetic attraction between the masses of flesh cannot be called marriage. The married person is in the mission of replenishing the Heavenly earth (Jn.14: 2), while the celibate is striving hard to evolve himself as a saintly eunuch. Bringing up ideal children and spouse for God is a unique work of God (Eph.5: 22-6:4; 1.Tim.2: 8-15; Col.3: 18-25). As the Bridegroom has only one Bride, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband (1.Cor.7: 2). Grooming the bride, who includes the total support of bringing up their children, is the sole duty of the groom. Adam neglected the duty as a caretaker, ending up in the seduction of Eve by Satan while he was away from her (1.Cor.7: 5).

PREREQUISITIES OF MARRIAGE:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity; that each one of you know how to take a wife himself in holiness and honor not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God...for God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness...(1.Thess.4: 3-8). In short, one should be a celibate till marriage. Since the lust of the eye or the lust of the body is a sin, no dating or flirting before the wedding is allowed in the strict sense. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put death the deeds of the body you will live (Rom.8: 13, 6-9;Mt.16: 25)... Make no provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Rom.13; 14). The undercurrent of St.Paul’s epistles thrust on this ever-present battle between good and bad, body and soul. Therefore, either live as a eunuch for the whole life or till at least one’s marriage. Those who decide to marry should emulate the life of the 12 Patriarchs’ parents and grand parents.

1.God’s blessings for the selection of a life partner
The selection of Isaac’s wife “came from the Lord”(Gen.24: 50), so also of finding Jacob’s life partners was by the promptings of the Heavenly powers (Gen.28.13-15). In accordance with Abraham’s prayers God’s angels went before the emissaries for all decision-making purposes. God’s angels appeared to Jacob in a dream prior to sending His benedictions while on his way for the selection of a spouse (Gen. 28:10-17).

2.Indispensability of parents’ blessings
By the promptings of God’s angels and Abraham’s prayers the servant found out a girl for Isaac (Gen.24: 37;Exo.20: 12). His parents blessed Jacob in accepting his spouse set apart by God (28:1-8)

3.Pledge of Dedication
Jacob made a vow that he would dedicate his whole life in the service of God provided he became successful in his mission of choosing a wife and return to his household with greater blessings of reconciling with his brother (28:20-22). Not only that his future life would be exclusively spent for the worship of God, but also giving a tenth of all his earnings to God. As a visible form of the wedding vow, precious ornaments were given to the bride (Gen.24: 22,47-48,55). Parents’ prayers during this period are also highly essential (24:63).

VIRGINITY:
Virginity before the marriage is a deciding factor for the future blessings and success in life (Gen.24: 16). Rebecca was a virgin till marriage. Jacob didn’t have any sexual flirtations even during the betrothal period while he was serving for Rachel for seven years (29:20-30).

POST-MARITAL COMMITMENTS:
Love and fidelity should rule over everything what they touch and breath. The vow that undertook before the wedding should start germinate soon after the marriage. It takes a long time to grasp the wishful intentions, aspirations and genetical make-up of the spouse. Even if there are some misconceptions between the couple due to inexperience, everything evaporates by conception and the children bridges a life long bond that dictates their entire life for the generations to come. Two souls in one body build and cement the value system in their children who in turn carry the torch bequeathed from their parents (1.Pet.3: 1-12;Eze.16: 44-45). People from different strata of society always bless the arranged marriages; care, affection and best wishes from all of them are the companions of the new couple, where as a love marriage creates conflicts and acrimony among the dear and near ones by showering ill winds or rivalry among different fiancés or fiancées. Grabbing anyone away from their routine roles in life on the basis of the animal magnetism of the flesh is an inimical crime done against parents or brothers, sisters, wife, husband, children, religion or society in general. One fickle moment of King David’s voluptuous life made him a criminal of serious double crimes, which destroyed all his credibility as a man of God and as a man of righteousness. The curses that he bequeathed to his offspring, religion and country worked as a torpedo in gulping the roadmap of Israelites’ sacred history by the later Babylonian rulers. The ripples of what we do or think will have multiples of unending reactions and consequences. Once the equilibrium is perturbed, everything goes beyond our grasp and comprehension. Violent beginnings will have violent ends.

LOVE MARRIAGE AND DE-FACTO RELATIONSHIPS: Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death (Jas.1: 15). The devil has a right to destroy man because he is intricately wrought in the depths of the earth (Ps.139: 15), the demonic region, in accordance with the bond that stood against him (Col.2: 14). God is like an ever-burning furnace, emitting fire and light in all directions. Man formed in the image and likeness of the Creator is also a furnace in its miniature formula; unless he sheds translucent light around him by overpowering the impurities of body within which he is enclosed, he will be consumed by the fire of his own demeanors and preposterousness. Despite a man is allowed to go into heaven, he will be blinded for his self -dismissal if there is no compatible light in him. The sex impulse is a rekindling fire of the flesh; if not bridled skillfully, the conflagration kindled can consume everything around. One who looks at a woman lustfully commits adultery in his heart (Mt.5: 28). The lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the devil are co-travelers who contrive schemes with exhausting passions. The arranged marriage may be portrayed as having no vista of knowing each other, penetrating into the desires, strivings and sexual compatibility. This is where the aid of the experienced relatives is called for. Man’s mental, as well as physical maturity, clings on to a cyclic rhythm of ripeness. Spoon-feeding is necessary for a baby; rigorous training is unavoidable for cycling, motoring, swimming, and the like. Such training in harnessing one’s instincts is needed by the onset of puberty and adolescence. Freedom or liberty cannot buy physical and metaphysical training and maturity. If one is not taught in the school of sufferings for his spiritual evolution, what difference is there between a man and a dog? Even the dog is restricted with a set season to mate. Man is the only animal, which enjoys the conjugal pleasure while his partner is pregnant. The dove will not roost with another bird once its partner is dead. Never call a man a dog because it is an insult to a dog.

DIFFERENT STAGES OF LIFE:
The old mental gymnasts have prescribed certain guidelines for harnessing the wild passions of man. A child up to the age of five should be treated as a prince, patting, cajoling and cuddling by tossing it at the lap of the parents. Serve all what is good for it. Treat it as a servant from 5 to 17, inculcating in him the creative passions of fear and love at the expense of other consuming lusts of life. He shouldn’t become a prey of superficial love and compassion. By the time he is over 17 his slavery is budded into a lifelong friendship with his elders. “Life starts at 40”. Life that starts at 40 should not be narrowed down to the venue of private life only but also is applicable to every vista of life as the cyclic equilibrium of emotional spiritual and philosophical maturity comes to its fruition since then. Plato’s philosopher king also was allowed to take the reins after the age of 40 just when he finished undergoing through a period of hard and rigorous training by sitting at the feet of the masters. Life is a real battlefield; veteran gurus and pundits should guide every step forward. It is a blessing if every individual till the age of 40 at least can march through the marshy land of life under the shades of their parents and other elders. Edward heath, the former Prime minister of England once said that even at the evening age of his life 70% of the decisions taken as the head of the nation was wrong. We are given with a lifetime of about 80 years to understand the nothingness and futilities of this transitory life. “Petty done and undone vast”. Given freedom to an adolescent will make him ripe before he becomes mature, making him as good for nothing. Anything excess is bad. Sexual excesses impede the intellectual faculty, normal metabolic functions and histrionic talents leading to aversions, and apathy to the inner side of life, with particular reference to spiritual and esoteric side of life. Listen to the prescriptions of the yogic therapy: twice a day, twice a month and twice a year. Sexual exercise is only one of the systems of the capricious body; it cannot cope with more than two sexual unions a month without affecting the normal functions of the other systems in the strict sense. Emptying the bowl twice daily is good for the body. Shaving only twice a year is advisable. Giving freedom to the lion, the king of the forest, will annihilate all other animals of the land. Sexual impulse, the mother of all other passions, will wipe out the victim and all the inhabitants of the world, and the planet altogether. Aids is only a tip of the iceberg. Laxity in sex morals has dynamited the foundations and texture of family and social life. For those who have no religious fervor sex becomes their religion, and pornography their bible. De-facto and extra marital relationships have manufactured only bastards who become criminals and perverts of all types consuming taxpayers’ money. The begetter and the begotten ones become eventual social outcasts. Once when the divine laws are perverted, we don’t have any logic as to how the invisible powers will work, as God is the author of everything. The modern animal life has tampered, digressed and trespassed all the biological and cosmic horizons. As the abomination of desolation has corroded and eroded the sanctity of our inner and physical universes, a cosmic bang of this planet is not too far into the future. The defacto union is abhorrent and despicable among the two-footed animals; of course they can argue that man is a four-footed animal while he tastes the fruits of darkness.

BACKLASH OF THE LIFE OF THE FLESH:
The premarital compatibility tests or the mutual knowledge in great details don’t prove that the couple is ever united for life. Man’s mind, like a drunken monkey caught up with a swarm of stinging bees, fluctuates and oscillates at every moment. The divorce rate is alarmingly abhorrent as days pass on and such children are prone to any form of vicious crimes and felony. Prove otherwise that dating and defacto unions are better than the arranged marriages, a thing of the past as denigrated in the developed and developing countries, by positive and convincing results. There might arise some unavoidable cases of divorce in arranged marriages, but the divorce rates and its painful and detrimental fallout in defacto households and love marriages outnumber many, many times, making the short life span a synonym of inferno on earth for themselves and their kiths and kins and society at large. The final stage of harvesting all our infectious passions and fashions start in the nursing homes, from where we exit into an all-pervading plane of unknown darkness. The lustful and irreligious life only can accelerate suicides and mercy killings. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever (1.Jn.2: 17).

Freedom of doing anything at any time is welcomed, provided the quality of life is enhanced from the mundane to excellence. As man trains the giant and ferocious elephant, man is to be put under harness by the governing laws of the Creator. Freedom is only an abstract concept while the cravings for basic, concrete necessities are the naked facts of life. Instead of proving that man is the highest creature in the scale of creation, reverting back the pendulum to the downgrade of Homo sapiens, the so-called evolution of the species, is highly abominable and reprehensible. The path of redemption commences only at the junction of the thirst for God and the fainting of the flesh in a dry and weary land (Ps.63: 1). Marriage takes place in Heaven, the second heaven the church, if not, the lustful life may crash-land untimely into an alien territory of abysmal darkness.

At the time when the spirit of darkness of the Iron Age (Dan.2: 40-45) gulps the helpless victims of the circumstance, instead of condemning the ignorant ones and the weaklings, let us pray for the light of the New Age to dawn upon mankind.