Lucille and I watched the movie Fireproof not too long ago.
- Fireproof - Never Leave Your Partner Behind (movie site)
Caleb and Catherine Hold are on the verge of divorce. There is no longer much of a connection between them with very little in the way of constructive communication happening either.
In what would seem a final and desperate move, Caleb reaches out to his father for some advice.
His dad asks him to hold off on getting into the divorce proceedings until Caleb receives a mail package from him.
When the package arrives, he finds a journal style book in it. Opening it, he finds the title of the book is The Love Dare.
In it is a call to a 40 day journey to work on turning around his marriage.
Needless to say, his journey is extremely painful and there are many struggles to overcome including his feelings of hopelessness for his marriage.
This is a good movie for husband and wife to sit down together and watch after the kids have gone to bed. That is, this is a movie for adults, or perhaps young adults mature enough to understand the dynamics of a relationship breakdown.
Take the time to listen with the heart, mind, and spirit to the message the Holy Spirit wants to share while watching the movie. Pray together before the movie starts. If nothing comes to mind or heart, pray a decade of the Rosary, or even an Our Father together to start off in the right space.
When the movie has finished, don't talk. Let the Holy Spirit's message sink in and then turn to each other and pray at least the Our Father together before starting a conversation.
Take the time to talk. If the conversation is fruitful, then keep it going. The grace will be there to deal with what tomorrow has to bring when tomorrow comes.
The duty of the moment is to discover what the Holy Spirit has placed on both hearts and pray and talk about it together.
If there is indeed conflict within the marriage, then this is an opportune time to humble ourselves before our husband or wife, take responsibility for our contributions to the conflict, and ask for forgiveness.
Marriage is a journey of love and sacrifice that is truly rewarding. We need to take the time to actually recognize the rewards!
Pax!
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