of reproach, the brokenness, and the beauty of reconciliation

I had a talk recently with a friend.

My friend had been away from a relationship for a long time. And has he unraveled the details of this broken union before me, I couldn't help but smile. He told me of a distance that he had sort of willed onto this relationship. He spoke as one who missed something desperately but didn't know exactly how to restore what had been broken for so long. He longed for the love that he once knew but didn't know how it had slipped into this lukewarm, distant expression of apathy.

I guess I smiled because I knew that he knew exactly what had to be done to bring that much-needed restoration. He knew just how simply it could all be put back together. Simple reconciliation. Fearless, unconditional love and a renewed passion to pursue real fullness and reciprocity.

There is such intense beauty in this thing we call relationship. What would we learn outside of it?