A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Mike Cheney is a Presbyterian Master’s student at Regent College.
The Mystery of Marriage: As Iron Sharpens Iron. Mike Mason, Portland, Oregon. Multnomah Press. 1985, 185pp.
When William James, the great philosopher, published his book Pragmatism (1907), one of the major motifs of North American culture was given expression and a persuasive popularization to the distinctively North American world view called “Pragmatism’, even up to the present time.
Pragmatism, that sometimes fanatical confidence in “practicality”, has cut a deep and winding channel in the North American mindset. We always want to know “how” and could not care less about “why”. “Just give us the facts and don’t cloud our minds with questions or assertions of meaning!” “Cut the theory! Let’s be practical.”
We are all too familiar with the popular and high-selling “how to” books on marriage which follow in this cultural tradition. We have all seen something of the consequences of these sorts of books; a number of surprising vignettes have arisen around them, not the least of which is the ardent housewife who was thoroughly shocked when she accidentally greeted the mailman in nothing but clear plastic freezer wrap on the prompting of one such book. Certainly one does not want to issue a universal indictment against such books, but there are far too many cases where it is warranted.
As far as I am concerned none of these “how to” books will ever be classics because, while full of the technician’s advice, they are not as a rule rich in spiritual insight or human discernment. The Mystery of Marriage, on the other hand, is certainly deserving of the designation “classic” because it is full of earthy, meditative and spiritual richness which evinces in the reader the clear connection between the practical and the mystical without going to great lengths to explicitly describe that connection. The exhilarating mystery of what God intends to do in and with the individual couple is not extirpated in this book but remains intact for the couple to explore and experience.
The book is divided into seven thematic sections and an epilogue which are prefaced by a searching prologue that poses the deep question of meaning that gives impetus to the reflection that follows – just as the events described in the prologue gave impetus to the author’s own pilgrimage of reflection on marriage. The probing of the “spiritual foundations upon which marriage is built” is, in my experience, unparalleled; the argument that marriage is a high spiritual vocation is poignant in the conviction it brings. Mason is able to speak with candour on issues and realities of marriage that generally call for the marshalling of evasive euphemisms to relieve the reader’s sense of embarrassment. The artfulness of these sections is experienced in their ability to turn one’s sense of privacy and embarrassment about certain aspects of marriage into promptings toward spiritual understanding.
The breadth of Christian vision in the book is sweeping and panoramic. Marriage emerges as a breathtaking, tense, glorious and ordinary Christian vocation which, in all its facets, partakes of the grace of God made manifest in Jesus Christ. This is indeed a commendable book, helpful reading for anyone interested in human relationships; it is full of the kind of incisive yet sensitive argument that characterizes great apologetic works.