The "ship"

This thing called relationship is essential. Our lives consist of relationships; it cannot be escaped. We are born into relations and are forced to remain linked to those, our family, until death parts us. As humans, we generally form friendships-another form of relationship. As sexual beings, we also generally link ourselves to a member of the opposite sex and form a dating, marriage, or partnership-yet another “ship.” Very few people in any given civilization live apart or in complete seclusion, at least not forever. Life is commonly spent in communities, building and maintaining relationships. It is in these relationships that life consists.
Familial relations assist in forming and shaping our person-for good or ill. Friendships are another step in maturation. This type of “ship” is not bound by the same rules as that of familial relationship and thus places different expectations on an individual, producing differing levels of behavior and growth. An opposite sex “ship” is the most intimate of human relations. It surpasses familial and friend. Levels differ, depending on life position and the level of intimacy, but generally this type of relationship is the final step in the communal, relational stage of human development.
Essentially then, human beings are bound to one another through this thing called relationship. We are born into it and die in the bonds of the “ship,” and for those who believe in life beyond this present material world, we will then proceed on to the best relationship which encompasses the shadows of all other relationships. We will no longer want for any other “ship” in which to grow; we will have found our final and most fulfilling relationship. We will have come home…