What are you waiting for, Joseph!?

Last night I heard the screaming,
Loud voices behind the wall
Another sleepless night for me
It won't do no good to call
The police

Choice words between a couple recently reached my ears again. This really bothers me and it's not really about the disturbance it causes. True, I've never liked the sound of people yelling at one another (and yes, I realize that I've spent the last few weeks doing quite a bit of yelling as a matter of routine - all in good fun). But when it's going on on a regular basis between husband and wife, I feel uncomfortable, useless, irritated.
How can people treat one they love in such a manner? Don't people bother to find out what their partner is really like before getting married? Why do people spend so much time investing in a beautiful home and yet so little working on a relationship with their partner? I think I would be happy enough in a hut with the right person; and I don't think there's a house big enough for myself and a wife who is hostile towards me.
So why are people in such a big rush to get married? I've heard that if you learn anything from marriage, you learn just how selfish you are. And yet it would seem that we all think that love is something that we can just do without effort once we get married.
Marriage-minded? "I'm going to college to find a man." "I want to find a wife by the time I turn 28. And two children by 34." I'm sorry but that kind of rubbish isn't for me. I think that if I make finding a wife a goal, I'll be setting myself up for failure and disappointment before I even began.
Lately, people have been giving me a lot of grief over my status. Partly because my role in this past weekend's play was to be the random guy who didn't get the woman. But mostly it's because people seem to think the whole idea is something they have to sell to single people who are 'passing the prime of their lives.'
I was recently talking to someone when this lady came up and grabbed us both in either arm and exclaimed, "now why don't you two get together?" Why should anyone be expected to give an answer to that question without first having one reason in favour of the idea?
I've thought up a few poor rationalizations for marriage...

1. I wasn't doing anything else at the time, so why not?
2. My mother told me to.
3. She's female and my age.
4. I wanted children.
5. I wanted sex :o
6. I wanted love.
7. She seemed to like me.
8. She's as pretty as I can do.
9. A mystical mist fell between us when our eyes first met and I knew we had to get married.
10. Her appearance, personality, interests mostly matched a mental list I had for a perfect match.
11. She was the only Christian girl God placed in my life at the time so it must have been His will.

But wait, aren't some of those things good? Sure they are. But they are things that may come out of a good match, not things that direct you to one. People are invariably asking me what I'm looking for. What hair colour? How tall? How old? What would she do for a living? For fun? Come on, are you serious? How am I supposed to know these sorts of details before I've met her. I'll love her and it will follow that she'll be beautiful in my eyes. But for the record, I've compiled an extensive list of good rationalizations for selecting a partner...

1. It is the culmination of two God-centred lives and God's will.

Knowing God's will isn't something on which I'm going to claim to be an expert. But one thing I do know: You have to be paying attention to Him.
And by the way, marriage isn't a right; it's a privilege. And so is remaining single.

Be as you are to the glory of God. Otherwise you'll be left with a mouthful of dust and a broken heart.

/end disjointed_rant