Customer Reviews

The Mystery of Marriage

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are thousands of books available on how to prepare for marriage, how to improve upon a marriage, or how to affair-proof a marriage. Mason here departs from the crowd and exults in the institution of marriage itself. His perspective is one of reverent awe rather than analytical examination.

Mason ponders the mystery of marriage from several different angles: otherness, love, intimacy, vows, sex, submission and death. His words are readable, yet profound. His book considers the greatest delights of marriage as well as the greatest demands.

I recommend this volume to anyone wanting to get a better understanding of how God has created marriage, and how He manifests His glory and His grand design through it. I have read many other books on marriage, but none with this unique, awe-inspiring approach. This work is a true classic!

Mike Mason's "The Mystery of Marriage" is an inspired and inspiring work, a breathtaking work of prose which reveals the transcendency of marriage, from the physical to the spiritual. Without preaching, Mason tells the story of his stepping away at the last moment from life in a monastery to embrace a life-consuming love in marriage. In a work which is profoundly honest and intimate, we glimpse the spiritual nature of marriage so easily lost in our chaotic world. Mason's openness, honesty and vulnerability, give us a work of incredible love which is beyond human ability to share. I am moved to tears by the love of Christ poured out on these pages.

This is a life-changing book, and I gladly give copies to friends considering marriage.

Well, I guess it's about time to write a review for Mystery of Marriage after reading it over and over many times since my husband and I were first dating (8 years ago) and after giving it as a wedding gift to every single bride and groom we know. This book is a masterpiece. It stands alone as the most richly woven piece of literature about the state of being married that I have ever read. Mike Mason puts eloquent, authentic words to the feelings every husband and wife experience in a manner that makes you SO glad that you're married (or about to be) EVEN IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING REAL STRUGGLE. You cannot help but be moved by his riveting description of the marriage union...both the utter agony and the sheer bliss. The book builds as the true MYSTERY of marriage unfolds before you...the very thing we all long to understand and to grasp. Once you're into this book for very long, what will really send deep shivers through your soul is the realization that this unbelievabley 'impossible' union we are trying to have with our mate is only hinting at the extraordinary marriage between our God and us. Yes, this beautiful analogy has been written of numerous times before, but trust me...not like this. I would recommend ordering at least TWO copies of this book... one to give away and one to read simultaneously with your partner.(I suggest alone, because these words are powerful and seering, and to be most effective, perhaps need to be contemplated deeply in solitude.) You will not be sorry to have invested in this book...and don't let the 'gift book' appearance turn you off...I believe it was packaged this way to encourage giving it to couples. Give it to YOURSELF first. And to God be the Glory!

As a marriage and family therapist, I have personally recommended this book to scores of people whether already married or considering it -- even if into an intimate partnership.... the principles apply. Why is this going on? What is happening? Is this normal? This superior book answers a multitude of questions that most people do not even know enough to ask. They just know they are feeling pain, or confusion, or questions. A beautifully written, easy to read, right to the heart of it book for everyone who may even consider falling in love one day.Buy it. Read it. You will be so glad you did.Then pass it on to a friend. Ask that friend to pass it on. Everyone who has ever considered love or marriage will be transformed -- their minds renewed -- through the reading of The Mystery of Marriage by Mason.You will never view intimacy nor marriage with the same eyes again.

This is more than a book outlining "10 Steps to this..." or "7 Steps to that..." As the author himself stated, this is more of a "how come" book than a "how to" book. Mike Mason paints a vivid picture of the spiritual and emotional realities that are just beneath the surface of marriage and romance. His chapter on submission alone makes the book worth purchasing by showing us that it (submission) is much more than most of us think it is. If you're looking for a way to take control by following those "10 simple rules" to make your marriage everything YOU want it to be, if you're looking for a quick fix formula that's peddled by so many relationship guru's (I certainly was when I picked up this book), than this isn't for you. If you want to build your marriage on a solid foundation of real love, one that will withstand the inevitable storms of life, than Mike Mason's "The Mystery of Marriage" is the place to start.

Mike Mason has written a gem, here, and I would highly recommend it to both husband and wife. Husbands, remember that you are reading from another man who is "honest" about what it is to be a man, and if you disagree, you need to pray about it. He takes the position that a man and woman are united together before God, and that there are many areas which the Holy Spirit needs to work on in us collectively, if we are going to show forth the glory of the Lord to a fallen society and world. It is highly recommended. For both husband and wife.

This is a NOT a book for ORDINARY people, but a book for EXTRAORDINARY people...Are you ordinary or extraordinary?

Amazingly, this book showed up in my hands again.... I read it probably 3 years ago for the first time, was awed by the surpassing beauty of love and deep deep insights... However, since I didn't experience God as much as I do now.... Certain truths revealed in the book was beyond my true understanding and absorbing those truths to be part of myself...

A friend's wedding happened last Saturday and I wanted to take the poem "The Lover's Hermitage" at the end of this book as a small gift to them.... Then, this book glued me all over again... I'm once again being awed at the author's insights... After 3 years, I experienced God a lot and have the exact same feelings (about the Lord's work in us) the author is talking about....I'm more than happy to see somebody can put them into words in such beautiful and clear way....

I strongly enthusiastically recommend this book to all married Christian couples...all my married friends....It's just as Elizabeth Elliot says, "You don't need any other book on the topic of marriage." if, only if, you can really grasp the meaning and let them become part of who you are....

God's love has the power to transfer any ordinary into extraordinary....

Read it, my friends, if you want to be your true self and have an EXTRAORDINARY marriage...

I've read it now three times and recommend it as a gift to anyone engaged or married newly as well as those married for fifty years. I give it to every engaged couple I know and am in awe of the poetry Mason uses as well as the truth that is contained in what he discovered as an engaged young man. It gives a theological and poetical flare to the most beautiful of God's creations: marriage.

It's no wonder that Dr. J I Packer praised so highly his former student (Mason) at Regent College. Thus, Mason has achieved a rare goal as a newly married young author! He excelled his teacher on this subject! As a Marriage and Family Counselor I 've been giving out this book to engaged couples as thier wedding gift. Also I gave those who improved their relationships thru counseling sessions this book as a token of appreciation. Compact yet deep! It makes you humble before the loving father and Creator. If every medical doctor and pastor approaches the client or parishioner with such an awe and humble attitude, the church will be renewed by those humble leaders with God's abundant blessings. This book makes you seek more earnestly God's grace in our helpless predicament of married life!

This book really opened our eyes to the way that marriage should be viewed as well as the ways that marriage should change your life. Mike Mason really paints a vivid picture of God's view of marriage. He uses insightful illustrations that really hit home. I would reccomend this book to anyone getting married or already married. It would make a wonderful wedding gift.