Claim. People do not marry because man misses woman or woman misses man; they marry because love cannot be perfected alone, and marriage is the appointed arena for that perfection.
Elaboration. SMM rejects sentimental rationales: “What is marriage? Why do people get married? For what do they get married? It is not because the woman misses the man, and the man misses the woman. It is to perfect love. The love sought by the man cannot be found without the woman” (1.2. The Blessing’s true perspectives on marriage, 144-234, 1986.4.25). The frame is structural rather than emotional: “For a man to achieve individual perfection, he needs a reciprocal relationship, and that is why ultimately he needs to get married. He cannot enter the realm of perfect love if he is not married” (ibid, 135-327, 1985.12.15). The corollary about love-of-God is striking: “A man and woman cannot fully connect to the love of God if they are not married. When a man and woman get married, the love of God resides with them” (ibid). Marriage is the structural prerequisite for receiving the love of God, not its decoration.