BATHS AND JUNE BRIDES

It’s April! And I bet there are thousands of weddings being planned for June — though they say September and October weddings are fast catching up!

In case you ever wondered what started the June bride tradition, it was baths! Plain and simple baths!

photo from Google images: winter bath

A long time ago, in cold countries, before heaters and the industrial age were still to come, people simply didn’t take a bath in the winter! They figured, they didn’t sweat, so they didn’t smell. Simple. It was hard enough fetching water when it was warm, how much more when it was cold! So the hygienically fastidious took once a week baths. But the lackadaisical were happy with waiting till the coming of warmer weather—which was June!

(No one wants to march down the aisle, without a bath!)

But these days, which month is the least of the bride’s problems. Or the groom’s. It’s wondering whether the marriage thrives or simply survives! Or whether this is for better or for best or for better or for beast!

One nugget from an old married is to look at marriage this way—It’s your training ground! It’s a practicum for learning how to live life so you make it with flying colors outside the home!

Wasn’t it John D. Rockefeller the billionaire philanthropist who said:

“I will pay more for the abililty to deal with people than for any other ability under the sun.”

And there’s your school! The guy who can relate well at home, can relate well anywhere! It would have been nice if natural talent, intelligence, and a college degree guaranteed success. But these days, not anymore. Something else is needed: it’s sensitivity. Call it discernment. Or wisdom. Or “feel.” Bottomline: it’s the capacity to understand what other people need and the willingness to give it to them.

Hey, come to think of it… when that big voice in heaven said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased…” what had his son done, by then, anyway?

Nothing!!! No miracles yet, no healings done! Nothing — except relate well to his dad, to his mom, and to his siblings.

And there’s your training school! Free of charge. But you have to keep telling yourself, “This is my curriculum. I better pass this test …or...”

Or what?

Let’s find out in the next blogs!