A School-Time Teaser

I was changing Shiphrah's diaper just now and as I reflected on two of my school friends (one from High School and the other from College) getting married over these past 6 months, I considered when and if they might have children of their own. Then a song came back to memory from elementary and middle school; perhaps you know it (I'll use our names as an example):

Meggan and Jeramy sitting in a tree

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love, then comes marriage

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

(And so on.)

Then I considered that there was something wrong with this. Tree climbing is okay. But I noticed that the physical relationship begins before love and marriage! Kissing has become so commonplace even in this teasing children's rhyme. Do you kiss first, then decide to love and marry? If the kiss is bad, do you consider him or her unloveable?

It is good that love comes before marriage, but it grows even more after marriage. It is also God-glorifying that babies come after the marriage has begun. But there is a gap. Kissing is the beginning of the physical relationship, but the babies are the fruit of that physical relationship. Therefore the kissing should not really start until after the marriage. Maybe this song should be re-vamped for a courting context. :-)

Meggan and Jeramy (and their respective families)

meeting regular for fellowship

C-O-U-R-T-I-N-G

First comes love, then comes marriage

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Nursing and crying, cooing and pooing,

Then whining and complaining, time for potty training.

Just a thought. :-)