Subtlety is Beauty in the Compromise

LENGTHY days are the norm in family life, whether partners work in the home or elsewhere. The end of some days, with pressures ambulating, is a consuming fire, a single moment boils over, a harsh tone is uttered, and then… emotional distance clogs the air.

Such is the case in most families’ lives on occasion.

But redemption is the opportunity for reconciliation to rise in modes of surrender.

When a partner recognises the cause of the dilemma — that it’s tiredness, nothing more — then humility has its shot. Courage to fold. Honesty to concede. Love then extends.

You’re washing the dishes, and something small is done, something so subtle, but which doesn’t elude your attention — a few dirty dishes are moved to within reach, and a bench is wiped clean. No words. Just, I notice that!

Sure, these are the things that might normally happen as partners simply assist one another, but tonight it’s different. A small though concerted-and-very-significant effort has been made to reach toward the other, and the beauty in that moment has been noticed and received. A heart softens in response.

A small, subtle gift is pivotal when a partner is ready to receive it, and maybe the magic in relationships is being attuned to one another enough to notice.

What followed was a hug; a tired, resigned hug where we fell into each other’s arms in the resolute mood of defeat. But in unity. Compromise, the beauty of subtlety in mutual submission.

Anger has enough of any marriage’s moments. How sweet the surrender of conceding to the fact of exhaustion. How good to notice a partner’s efforts however small. There is bliss in marital communication that has effect beyond words, which recognises and redounds in groans.