RELIGION TODAY MISSIONS DAY—Dr. Karmlt Dograffonrotdt recently apaka at Ruab Matropadtan AME Zion Church an tha subfaet at "Am I Doing What tlw Lard Wanta Ma Ta Do?" Tho program bagan at 10:50 a.m. with Ma. Etlml Jaffraya at tha argan and Ma. Hazal Raaca at tha plana aa tho ladloa occupied tho choir loft. Cokesbury Holds Annual Services Cokesbury United Methodist Church, 3315 Poole Road, Raleigh, will conduct its homecoming service Sunday, Oct. 8, at II a.m. Guest speaker will be the Rev. Albert Shuler, associate director, North Carolina Council on Ministries. Din ner will be served. There will also be a pre homecoming celebration at Cokesbury on Saturday, Oct. 7, begin ning at 7 p.m. featuring several local choirs. The public is invited. The Rev. Theodore V. Carter, Sr., is castor. Fall Revival In Progress At Wake Chapel Wake Chapel Baptist Church will be having Its fall revival Oct. 2-8. The Rev. Eddie Porter of Sontag, Miss., will be the evangelist. Services start at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Come witness this great man of God. All are welcome. Rev. G.A. Jones, Jr. is pastor. N.Y. City Council Seeking Racial Unity In MDay Of Reconciliation" NEW YORK. N Y. (AP)-Calls for racial unity were sounded last week as the City Council held a "Day of Reconciliation" and announced a bill to establish a youth employment pro gram in memory of Yusuf Hawkins, the black teenager killed in Ben sonhurst, Brooklyn. Mayor Edward I. Koch said family upbringing was the key to countering racism in society. He told about 250 people at a ceremony in the City Council Chamber at City Hall that govern ment, religious groups and the social system play their own roles in fighting racism, but that “the key in stitution clearly is the family." He said, “If the child grows up as a bigot. it will be because the family did not offset all those outside influences." Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, the Democratic mayoral nominee, said, "A city polarized is not in the best Interests of the Afro-American community or any community " City Council Majority Leader Peter Vallone said. "We are all trying to do God's work in one form or another" and tha one way to remember the death of Hawkins is to bring alive a wish he had expressed in a school essay: to find a way to give needy youngsters jobs while they go to classes. Vallone said a bill will be introduc BY RUTH HEINER Marriage customs and rituals dif fer greatly around the world. In many countries the traditions have evolved until the marriage has become a public function instead of a private ceremony. They have become part of a community celebration. Some years ago in a nearby town they were going to celebrate a spring festival in a city square that had just been redecorated, and the gazebo was painted afresh. A newly engaged couple agreed to have their wedding there the day of the celebration, and al lthe advertising in the newspapers featured the lovely bride and groom and wha they would be wearing from their sponsors. A table of gifts was piled high from businesses, friends, and relatives, and it was a grand affair. A storybook dream come true in times that were tough for most newly-married couples. This couple would begin with all the things that most of their parents had taken years to ac cumulate. It was like a fairytale come true, and it appeared that the whole town turned out for the gala affair. Within a few months the couple had separated, and the dream bubble burst. True love, it seemed, was not the foundation for the marriage. Neither were all the lavish gifts and wishes of the whole town. That was the end of public marriages in the town. Latter-Day Saints’ beliefs about marriage and family are unique in many ways, and in sharp contrast to many practices of our day. Mormons believe that marriage is a sacred covenant that requires love, commitment, and unity. It requires devotion that must overcome selfishness. Marriage is ordained of God, and “Whoso forbiddeth to marry is not or dained of God,” the Lord declared to Joseph Smith. “Marriage is honorable. It is a plan of God. It is not a whim, a choice, a preference only, it is a must! ” Presi dent Spencer W. Kimball, the late president of the LDS Church, said. Choosing a marriage partner is a choice that can have eternal conse quences. Marriage is sacred, and when entered into by two worthy partners, and sealed in the Holy Tem ple by those in authority, it is a cove nant of commitment forever. Not for time only. Elder Dean L. Larsen noted that some of the greatest tragedies which occur in marriage are because the decision was made largely on whim sical or emotional impulses. Every selfless effortandadjustment on the ferences can become a source of con stant or recurring stress and conten tion. President Ezra Taft Benson said, '“A married couple have an obligation not only to each other, but to God. He has promised blessings to those who honor their covenant.” “Marriage presupposes total allegiance and total fidelity. Each spouse takes the partner with the understanding that he or she gives totally to the spouse with all the heart, strength, loyalty, honor and af fection, with all dignity. Any divergence is sin: and sharing of the heart [with others] is transgression. As we should have ‘an eye single to the glory of God,’ so should we have an eye, an ear, a heart single to the marriage and the spouse and family,” is a quote from Faith Precedes the Miracle. Commitment, dedication and loyal ty should not waver, but remain cons tant. Emotions fluctuate, but loyalty should not. The everyday occur rences which irritate couples should not make them run to a counselor, or the divorce court. Life is full of difficulties, and not all of them happen to married couples. We should not give up or desert a relationship simply because pro blems occur. Couples which have committed to marriage—when dif ficulties arise—can focus on the dif ficulty, and not on each other in blame, and overcome many a pro blem. As the Lord commanded Adam and Eve that they should be “one flesh," so should married couples be one, which also included emotional and spiritual oneness. Marriage is a partnership, and both partners need to have the same input,, and feeling of equality. Elder James E. Faust suggested some questions that we could ask ourselves as we attempt to become “one flesh.” 1. Am 1 able to think of the interest of my marriage and partner first before I think 01my own desires? 2. How deep is my commitment to my companion, aside from any other interest? 3. Is he or she my best friend? 4. Do 1 have respect for the dignity of my partner as a person of worth and value? 5. Do we quarrel over money? Money itself seems neither to make a couple happy, nor the lack of It, necessarily, to make them unhappy, but money is often a symbol of selfishness. 6. Is there a spiritual bond between Even those of us who have been married a long time can re-evaluate our commitment to our spouse, and realign our lives to make our homes a heaven [havenl on earth. To love, honor and cherish one another! ed in the council to set up a Youth Kmployment and Career Develop ment program to match up students who want to work part-time with job training and placement counseling. "Students will be encouraged to complete their high shool educations with school schedules designed to ac commodate their work schedules." he said. The Rev. Paul Moore. Episcopal bishop of New York, told the au dience. "We must reach into the dep ths of our own beings for the beauty that is there,” to fight racism and