Healing Distance: The Touch of Reconciliation

Have you ever noticed how a normal-sized marital bed suddenly feels the size of a football stadium after a big argument? One of you is glued to the far right edge, the other to the far left, and in the middle lies a vast ocean of frozen pride. That physical ice is very real.

After a fight, or during a season of emotional coldness at home, our bodies go into defense mode. We cross our arms, avoid eye contact, and navigate the kitchen with the tactical precision of a secret agent just to avoid grazing each other. Words still sting, and saying 'I am sorry' feels like chewing glass.

In those moments of lockdown, we often wait for the other person to make the first big move with a perfectly crafted theological speech of repentance. We want them to come with a brilliant presentation detailing their mistakes. And since that almost never happens, that football stadium, that ocean of ice between you two, just gets wider and wider.