Simon and Chana Taub of Brooklyn broke up housekeeping after 20 years of marriage—divorcing and going their separate ways. Sort of.
He went to the living room on the first floor, and she took the bedroom level on the third floor. And just to be sure they didn't bump into each other on the second floor—to which they both had partial access—a judge ordered that a partition be erected at the staircase, blocking them from accidentally crossing paths.
Now, I've seen the pictures of it myself on the Internet. An actual slab of white drywall, cut to fit a doorway opening in their richly ornate home. It's a stark representation of the stubborn walls of isolation that are nailed up in far too many homes across our land. Walls of silence. Walls of distance. Walls of unresolved issues. Walls built to the thickest dimensions with the materials of misunderstanding, impatience, annoyance and ridicule.
But just as Jesus came to destroy the dividing line between Jew and Gentile, He also comes into our homes and marriages today, offering us all the tools required to dismantle the walls that so easily and quickly grow up between us. He offers the tools of forgiveness. The tools of honor and grace and repentance.
It may take a whole lot of hammering and demolition and selflessness to get these walls down, but keep going through your house until you've found them all . . . and have torn them to the ground.
Let's hope Simon and Chana get theirs down, too, and find some way to meet in the middle. A marriage with walls is not what God intended.
DISCUSS
What walls have you allowed to stay standing in your home? Where have you built those walls? In the kitchen? Living room? Bedroom? What will be your first steps to remove them?
PRAY
Pray that God will help you spot any walls going up between you before they get filled in with resentment and bitterness. Ask God to help you grow in oneness.
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