In the Mormon Church, we believe we can be married for all

“In the Mormon Church, we believe we can be married for all eternity, not till death do you part. As Mom was getting older, she was excited, truly excited, that within a few years she’d be with Dad again.” Thus spoke Clayton M. Christensen, a man of deep faith and towering intellect, whose words reveal not only the sacred doctrine of his belief, but the eternal yearning of the human heart—to love beyond the grave. In this gentle remembrance, he speaks of eternal marriage, but the meaning reaches farther still. It is the cry of the soul that refuses to see love as temporary, that insists that the bonds of affection, forged in righteousness and tenderness, cannot be undone by death’s cold hand.

In the ancient ways, the wise often spoke of love as something that transcends mortal bounds. The Greeks told of Orpheus, who descended into the underworld for the sake of his beloved Eurydice, believing that no barrier—not even death—could silence the song of his heart. Though his quest ended in tragedy, his story endures because it reflects an eternal truth: that love, once pure and true, seeks reunion. The story of Clayton Christensen’s parents is the same truth lived without myth—the faith that separation is but a season, and that beyond the veil of mortality, the spirit endures in union. His mother’s anticipation of meeting her husband again is not despair, but radiant hope, a hope built upon a faith that eternity itself is not long enough to exhaust the depths of love.

The origin of this belief lies deep within the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where marriage is not merely a social bond, but a covenant sealed by divine authority—a promise made not only between two souls, but before God, whose power extends beyond death. Such unions, known as eternal marriages, are performed in holy temples, where believers are sealed “for time and all eternity.” In this, the marriage vow becomes not a farewell at death’s door, but the beginning of an unending companionship. When Christensen recalls his mother’s excitement to rejoin her husband, he is bearing witness to this sacred truth—that in faith, even mortality loses its sting, for love has conquered it.

To understand the depth of such faith, one must look upon the example of all who live with an eternal perspective. When a mother prepares to leave this world and smiles instead of weeping, when a father grieves yet does not despair, when children remember with peace rather than bitterness—then we see the power of belief in eternal bonds. The ancients, too, yearned for such assurance. The philosophers of the East taught of the continuity of souls, the Buddhists of rebirth, the mystics of oneness that survives death. In each faith, in each heart, the same question burns: is love fleeting, or does it endure? Christensen’s words answer with quiet certainty: it endures forever.

There is, in this quote, a profound lesson about how to live. If one believes that relationships extend beyond death, then love becomes not a matter of convenience or pleasure, but of eternal responsibility. Every act of kindness, every moment of forgiveness, every gesture of understanding builds the bridge that will one day unite souls again. In such a vision, family is not just a circumstance of birth—it is the eternal architecture of heaven itself. To live with that awareness is to live deliberately, tenderly, and with reverence for the sacred ties that bind us.

And yet, one need not be Mormon to feel the power of these words. For though faiths differ in doctrine, the longing they express is universal. We have all stood by gravesides, whispering to the departed that we will see them again. We have all felt, in moments of stillness, that love does not vanish—it changes form, but remains. The hope of eternal reunion is not a dream to escape life’s pain; it is the strength that gives meaning to the pain, the light that burns even in loss.

So, my friends, let the teaching of this quote dwell in your heart: love well, for love is not lost. Cherish those beside you now, for the ties you weave in this life may outlast the stars themselves. Whether your belief names eternity as heaven, or rebirth, or simply the immortal echo of memory, live in such a way that your love will not perish when your breath does. For when all else fades—fame, wealth, power—only love and faith will remain. And perhaps, as Christensen’s mother believed, when the final dawn breaks, you too will open your eyes not to separation, but to reunion—to the eternal embrace of those who have walked with you from the beginning of time itself.