Psychologist Arthur Aron has come up with 36 questions that will help any two people get closer to each other. If two people will sit down and go over these questions (whether they be married, or dating, or friends, or even siblings), Aron says that the conversation and openness that develops around these questions will draw those two people deeper into their relationship.

Some of the questions skim the surface (“When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?”); some go deeper (“For what in your life do you feel most grateful?); some are thoughtful (“What do you value most in a friendship?”); and some are personal (“What is your most terrible memory?”). But all of them, we’re told, help form a bond with the person you share these with. Interested? Check out the questions here, or listen to a story about them here.

Aron’s work was just one fascinating conversation around love, relationships, and friendship that I’ve been chewing on recently, as I’ve begun a three-week series on this topic. Here’s some other material on the web that has gotten my attention (some Christian, some secular, all insightful).

On Sunday, I mentioned that, when given a choice, millennials preferred the “Beta” model of marriage: two-year trial period, followed by the opportunity to formalize or dissolve the partnership. Their second choice? The “Real Estate” model. Huh? Read the article; it’ll explain it. (On the encouraging side: nearly 1/3 of millennials still believe in the “til-death-do-us-part” idea.)

Did you know that married folks who regular participate in church life are 46% less likely to get divorced than the average, while those who attend church only “sometimes,” have a 10% higher rate of divorce? That, and other stats about divorce (including the interesting correlation between the cost of the wedding and the likelihood of divorce) can be found here.

How about a blog post with 7 ways to land a Mennonite husband? Sound irrelevant? Sound anything-but-funny? Read it; I guarantee you will laugh, or I’ll refund your cost to read this blog post. And I also guarantee that if you’re married to a man, or are dating a man, or simply know a man, you’ll find plenty of places where you’re nodding your head in agreement — and laughing at the same time. And if you are a man, read it and see how, even though you had no idea, you aren’t that far from being a Mennonite man.

And then finally, on a more serious note: what is love? This blog does a pretty good job of listing 23 things that love is — and does.

Happy reading, and thinking, and laughing — and loving.