After the wedding on Saturday I had a few people come up and tell me that after I get married I won't be able to do good sermons about marriage. And I especially won't be able to talk about sex.

I won't be able to talk about sex because everyone would know I was talking from experience rather than ignorance and then everyone would have dirty images in their heads.

And marriage because, the implication was, then I won't have such a lofty view of marriage. Probably this is because I'll be stuck in trenches of marriage, marriage will be about wrangling kids and negotiating schedules and mortgage repayments that I'll have very different things to say about marriage.

I think that's a bit sad. Perhaps we need single people around to idealise marriage for those who are stuck in the mechanics of it. On the other hand, it should be the people who are married who should be the greatest advocates of marriage. People who don't forget the big picture while dealing with the details. From where I am all I really have is the big picture. I can think about the details but it's all theoretical. But my big picture isn't. Marriages affect more than just the husband and wife. I have been both blessed and hurt by marriages. From where I am I can see marriages from afar a lot better than I can see them up close, and for all the stupid stuff, I still believe in marriage, and I still think it's great. But I'd rather married people told me that a lot more than I told them that.