A Reflection

–Life feels difficult these days. It all seems driven by a clock and filled with a list of things to do. Everything just feels tough. Seemingly there is little joy or fun. But who said this was supposed to be fun, huh? I don’t know, but the obstacles before me seem to be high and ominous. The hills stretching ahead of me in the distance seem to be growing into giant, Alp-like mountains. My focus seems to be on just getting over them. So I find myself missing the journey, missing the beauty of the adventure in front of us and our life together.

And not only is it work just trying to get through the muck and mire of the moment, but it is also taking some work to trust that God is leading the way. While I suppose the possibility exists that He is not leading the way, deep in my heart I truly believe the Lord has His Hand firmly in the middle of everything.

But right now it’s all just a rocky road – a rocky, uphill road. And it’s tough. Time to lie down, rest and hope that tomorrow will somehow be more scenic and less difficult. Something a little downhill wouldn’t hurt either.

The four most important words a husband and wife will ever speak to one another are these:

– “Will you forgive me?” Those other four words – “I am really sorry. – are important, too. But asking for forgiveness requires a response – a very direct yes or no answer. The truth is that sometimes that answer might be “no.”

Many years ago my wife, Judy, and I had been fighting about something. If you are like us, when we fight, we actually don’t do a lot of talking. You know, that quiet, uncomfortable silence that sort of yells at the world around you something is wrong!

That seemed to go on for a day or two, when Judy stopped me in our kitchen and asked the question – “Will you forgive me?” At the time, I said, “Right now, I don’t know if I can do that.”

Well, with a little fire in her eyes, she grabbed my shirt collar with two hands, pushed me back down into a kitchen chair, sat on my lap, and then eyeball-to-eyeball, said, “You have to forgive me. God says so!”

We both started to laugh and it was then that we began the healing. It was the first step in the two of us living out our Sacrament of Marriagein our marriage, are more important than anything that might come between us.

“Will you forgive me?” It takes some courage to ask the question. But it is a question every married couple has to ask. It truly opens the door to loving each other as God calls us to love one another.