“Are you talking to me? Todd often asks from the other room when I’ve thought of something random he simply must know. I just forget that something is blocking our conversation. Fortunately, for us, it’s just a physical wall or two.
Strong relationships demand clear communication. Often, daily frustrations come between parties and keep them from enjoying the freedom from misunderstanding. Sometimes simple things like bills or tight schedules get in the way, and we experience relief when that struggle passes.
Other times, we live with an elephant in the room… some infraction too egregious to ignore, yet we do.
Maybe it’s an affair unconfessed, or perhaps the constant stream of verbal assault has left one partner unable to defend any longer, so silence becomes the enemy of healthy discourse. Maybe it’s a human relationship, or perhaps sin clogs our relationship with God. We’ve put a choke hold on the flow of thought and strangled out the trust and comfort we once enjoyed.
We do the same with our physical health. We ignore the signs of unhealthy body systems and pay the price in medical expenses when arteries clog and we find ourselves hanging on to life. Fixing the problem comes at the price of tremendous pain.
Some relationships suffer so badly from those clogged communication arteries they need bypass surgery through intense counseling, while other relationships simply die.
One way or another, the relationships change–and not in a good way–unless we make a daily habit of confession and accepting responsibility for our actions.
We find no shortcuts to avoid the slog of confession, and moving closer to one another is sometimes painful, but in the end, the people in our lives are well worth the pain.
…and that’s the view from My Front Porch