Maintaining
Marital
Communications
by Henry R. Brandt and Homer E. Dowdy
conceal feelings and thoughts and rise to the level o f honesty about money, fears, wishes, motivations, sex feeling and response, mistakes made, resent ments and misunderstandings. In seeking to build a wholesom« marriage, there is a high premium on making a conscious effort to express your appreciation o f each other—praise, if you will. Jerry is a fellow who makes such an effort. He married Alice fifteen years ago. Just as in courtship days, he still expresses continuously his appreciation of her cooking, the way she dresses and combs her hair, her manner with the children, her spirit of sacrifice in her church work, her gra ciousness towards guests. She does not tire of hear ing his praise. It is a pleasant part of life that contributes to maintaining good fellowship just as sleep, good air, meat and potatoes sustain a healthy body. We do these things day in and day out, not as a distasteful, boring, dull, meaningless chore, but as a pleasant, helpful routine eagerly looked for ward to because they are pleasantly beneficial. It is important to know that Jerry is express- THE KING'S BUSINESS
T he street of good fellowship in marriage lies in two people applying the principle em bodied in the verse: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). If you want appreciation and to have your feel ings and desires count with your mate, then make a conscious, continuous effort to appreciate your mate and give due regard to his feelings and de sires. When you and your partner approach each other with the desire to know, to listen, and to understand, you are ready to build a strong bridge across which two-way communication can flow. The way to maintain mutual trust in a mar riage is to be frank. Both the husband and the wife have the right to know each other’s mind about each other, in fact about everything that concerns the relationship. Such an attitude puts a high premium on com munication. The term is used in preference to “ talking,” for people can do much talking and still live in a state o f almost complete mental isolation. Communication means to overcome the desire to
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