The Match Game

By J. Kenneth Bassett

On Oct. 11, 1994, Randall Curlee and Victoria Ingram were married in San Diego at Sharp Memorial Hospital—in hospital gowns.

Who would want to get married in a hospital gown? Well, here is the scenario: Randall and Victoria were in a progressive dating relationship when doctors told Randall he needed a kidney. All of Randall’s relatives were checked for possible donorship, but none was found to be compatible.

Finally, Victoria asked to be examined, and discovered she and her husband-to-be were a perfect match—in more ways than one! So, just prior to Randall’s kidney transplant, the couple endured a “heart-grafting” ceremony, and were promptly put to sleep. If they were looking for a unique honeymoon, they got it.

While few marriages enjoy a biological connection like the Curlees, many couples today are missing the key component for a successful union: spiritual oneness. Our Creator inspired this caution: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

Long after sexual, intellectual, social, and other minor compatibilities have worn thin, true spiritual kinship can keep the marriage together.