My wife is an alumni of Seattle Pacific University. It's a great school that was influential in challenging her to deepen her faith in God and to move beyond the faith that she had inherited from her parents. We receive a quarterly magazine from the school that is always full of great articles. The most recent edition came to our home several weeks ago but I hadn't given it much notice before this morning.
The article that caught my eye was on the difficult work of reconciling our closest relationships with family. The author defined reconciliation from a family therapist's perspective as "staying in relationship while honoring differences and establishing appropriate boundaries". Seems like this is a good goal for any sort of difficult relationship. The article goes on to explain how reconciliation is more than just forgiveness. For my current context it was a good reminder that relational strife is very rarely the result of only one person's poor choices. We more than likely own some of the responsibility for the conflict. We are not called to be doormats but it is critical that we maintain an contrite spirit and an open door to reconciliation. You can read the full article by clicking here.
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