I was walking along Canal Street in New Orleans with Bob, a friend, colleague, and a good Catholic man. He described his continuing challenge to be the man he wants to be. Often he falls short in one area or … Read more
Category: Marriage
GOD’S UNEXPECTED (AND UNDER-APPRECIATED) PURPOSE IN MARRIAGE
The requirements for a successful date include having bathed within the previous 24 hours and being agreeable (naturally or artificially). Usually some amount of cash is also required. It’s really not too hard. When two freshly-washed and agreeable people spend … Read more
Newton’s Third Law
Newton’s third law of motion teaches us that every action has an opposite and equal reaction. I suspect that his law applies to human relationships just as much as rolling rocks. Every action evokes a reaction. When we attack someone, … Read more
When Being Right Isn’t Good Enough
Almost twenty years ago Nancy and I were planning the landscaping around our new house. A landscape architect had recommended a cluster of three fruit trees at the corner of our property. We wondered if that was too many trees … Read more
Taking Your Marriage From Misery to Joy
Mom says I was a pleasant baby. As I grew, I must have become less pleasant. I remember spending a lot of my growing-up years annoying and battling my siblings. I suppose that struggles with life and siblings teach all … Read more
I’m Just Being Honest
by H. Wallace Goddard
Perhaps the most pernicious sins are those that make us feel virtuous.
Perhaps the most pernicious sins are those that make us feel virtuous while we devastate our fundamental Christian professions. For instance, the Pharisees were … Read more
Conflict Resolution and the Creation of Peace
Conflict Resolution and the Creation of Peace
by H. Wallace Goddard
“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.”
Nancy and I have some friends who have been married for a few years longer than … Read more
Taking Your Marriage From Misery to Joy
Mom says I was a pleasant baby. As I grew, I must have become less pleasant. I remember spending a lot of my growing-up years annoying and battling my siblings. I suppose that struggles with life and siblings teach all … Read more
The Road to Marital Misery is Paved with Good Intentions
Often, we think we are acting nobly when we are actually being destructive.
Some examples:
Hoping to strengthen their marriage, a wife approaches her husband: “We need to talk.”
Hoping to state the problem, she describes the husband’s faults. “You … Read more
Aligning Our Vision in Marriage
Yesterday I asked Nancy a question. She gave an answer that seemed quite unrelated to my question. I was baffled and annoyed. I blinked a few times to try to clear my mind. Had she heard and understood my question? … Read more