AP Photo / C M Guerrero [Fr. Cutie and girlfriend]
The news has been so filled with stories of cheating husbands and fractured families that it is difficult to comprehend how healing and reconciliation ever take place.
There are a variety of reasons that men cheat, and women as well. What is important, however, in preserving a marriage is the forgiveness factor, even after the sting of infidelity.
The forgiveness factor is using love to heal pain.
Here again I quote Professor Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth when he talked about marriage with journalist Bill Moyers some years ago. He called ”loyalty” the essence of marriage - “not cheating, not defecting - through whatever trials or suffering, you remain true.”
Bill Moyers said: “In marriage, every day you love, and every day you forgive. It is an ongoing sacrament - love and forgiveness.” Power of Myth
Many of us, myself included, pointed a finger at Fr. Cutie, the Roman Catholic priest who found love despite his vows to the Church.. But the Episcopal Community welcomed him. They came to see that he was a man who still had within him the power to inspire and bring hope to others. At his first sermon preached in his parish, Fr. Cutie spoke on the power of forgiveness.
The Mayo Clinic offers advice on what to do about infidelity and how to mend a marriage after an affair. Mayo Clinic Infidelity Advice
WebMD also offers advice on repairing marriages. Marriages do survive infidelity, but it takes courage to forgive someone who violates the marriage vows. Overcoming Infidelity
Copyright 2009 Rita Watson
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