Monday Musings: Cleave and Broken things

This morning on the bus I was listening to Elder Holland's talk titled Broken Things to Mend. A few weeks ago I decided it would be a useful thing to download all of the talks from a specific Apostle and listen to them chronologically from oldest to newest. I started with Elder Holland because I remembered that over the course of several conferences he had spoken about The Prophet Joseph Smith, the Godhead, and several other doctrines peculiar to Latter Day Saints. He had was directing his remarks toward other religions and Christian churches pointing out how we are different.

Broken Things to Mend was a wonderful talk and reminded me of the gratitude I should have for the gospel, the church, and my family. It also helped me understand the need I really have for the Savior's influence in my life.

Elder Holland mentioned how remembering what the Savior has done can help build and strengthen a marriage, which got me thinking about an odd word: cleave

It has two meanings. It can mean to cut apart or break up especially along natural lines of weakness. That is the way it is used when talking about how minerals break. But it also means to hold tight to with unwavering loyalty. It is in that sense that it is used when talking about cleaving unto our spouses. I find it ironic that the same word has such different meanings in different contexts, but I do love the word related to marriage.