I am grateful to
be invited to be a witness at this colloquium. I am especially grateful
for the opportunity to give evidence that a man
and a woman united in marriage have a transcendent
power to create happiness for themselves,
for their family, and for the people around them. The evidence I offer begins
when I was a single man. I thought I was happy. An assignment in my church
took me to a meeting in New Hampshire. As the meeting ended, I saw
in the crowd a young woman. I had never seen her before. But the feeling came over me--
if I could only be with her, I could become every good
thing I ever wanted to be. We were married a year
after I first saw her. The words spoken in the
ceremony included a promise that we might be husband
and wife in this life and for eternity. I have become a better person
as I have loved and lived with her.
We have been complementary
beyond anything I could have imagined. Our unique abilities allowed
us to become partners with God in creating human life. Spouses and family members
can lift each other and ascend together if they care about
the interests of the other more than they care of their own. Those are things
people must do for us to have a renaissance
of happy marriages and productive families, even
when that happy result is slow to come and when the
loud voices mock the effort. We can and must
stand up and defend the institution of marriage
between a man and a woman. The Lord will
multiply our efforts as we join together
in this work. I promise progress
toward that happy result. And I do it in the name of
Jesus Christ, whom I serve and whose witness I am. Amen.