Book Review
Books: ‘What in the Hell Happened?’
By Kam Williams
Special To the Skanner News
“There is an illusion of marriage created
by Hollywood… that only exists in the
movies and on TV… All ‘housewives’ are
not ‘desperate,’ and ‘How I Met Your Moth-
er’ is seldom an accurate depiction of a
Godly marriage…
This book has been written to help cou-
ples find fulfillment in marriages and to
provide spiritual release to those who have
broken the marital covenant and bond by
divorce. We want to help save marriages
and provide a basis to salvage relationships
that may be floundering under the stresses
of life or the pressure of current trends.”
-- Excerpted from the Introduction (pg. 5)
During the traditional exchange of wed-
ding vows, a bride and groom invariably
promise to remain together “’til death do us
part.” Yet, so many marriages end in
divorce nowadays, suggesting that some-
thing must be amiss, given the clarity of that
unambiguous pledge.
As pastor of Destiny Worship Church in
Raleigh, N.C., Bishop Alphonso Lee Smith
has pronounced plenty of couples husband
and wife over the years, only to see some of
those supposedly-sacred unions ultimately
end in divorce. This has led the good rev-
erend to wonder whether “vow-takers really
know to what they are committing” or if
they appreciate “the gravity of the wedding
ceremony.”
In What in the Hell Happened? An Inti-
mate Look at Love and Relationship with
Raw Honesty, he maintains that “marriage,
as a practical consideration, should be
entered into with wisdom… reverently, dis-
creetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of
God.” For he feels that engaged couples
ought to be ought to be fully conscious of
the covenant they are about to make with
the Almighty.
Still, there comes a point in a severely
strained relationship where one must assess
wheter it can be saved, if it isn’t on the
rocks already. That is why the author places
such an emphasis on premarital counseling.
Not being a hypocrite, Bishop Smith
admits that even his own marriage failed,
and he devotes an entire chapter to sharing
that painful story. On those pages, he
chronicles the emotional roller coaster ride
he experienced as he went through the
stages of denial, anger, guilt and self-con-
frontation prior to arriving finally at a
peaceful place, by the grace of God.
A practical, prenuptial primer, written
from a faith-based perspective, urging cou-
ples to reflect and really look before you
leap.
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Page 8 The Seattle Skanner June 6, 2012
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