Marital versus the Martial

I read the prison diary of St. Perpetual on her feast day the other day. Ultimately what I got from it, perhaps not surprisingly, is that conflict is the order of our lives. The Christian is definitionally involved in a war against Satan, the demons, evil, and his/her own selfish inclinations. We've been drafted into an army, even those of us who loathe conflict.

But perhaps we should focus not on the martial but on the marital aspect. Instead of viewing life as a struggle against evil within us and without us, why not view it in terms of God “marrying his creation” as Isaiah writes? Why not look at strife and suffering not so much as the coin of the Church Militant realm but as the God-chosen ways to reciprocate His “crazy” love for us?