Jam-e Jam newspaper

     "TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian bridegroom bit off more than he could chew when, according to custom, he licked honey from his bride's finger during their marriage ceremony and choked to death on one of her false nails.  The Jam-e Jam newspaper said on Wednesday the 28-year-old groom died on the spot in the northwestern city of Qazvin while the bride was rushed to hospital after fainting from shock.  Iranian couples lick honey from each other's fingers when they get married so that their life together starts sweetly."

     While this groom's death is a tragedy, my first reaction was that this is a beautiful wedding custom.  Isn't it a great idea to start your wedding life out sweetly?  But, as I thought about it, I realized that the honey might be better saved for a later point in the marriage.  After all, virtually every marriage begins sweetly.  The trick is to maintain that sweetness after years and years of being together.   Starting sweetly is not nearly as important as continuing sweetly.

     Those of you who are married may do well to ask if the sweetness is still there.  Husbands and wives, do you treat each other just as sweetly as you did those first few days of wedded bliss?

     How about in your other relationships?  Do you communicate with others in a way that can honestly be categorized as "sweet"?  Listen to these words of Solomon:

     "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." (Prov. 16:24)

     May your life be filled with sweetness, and may you be blessed to be surrounded by sweet people.

Alan Smith