Icy Relationships

I read the headlines yesterday morning about how, one after another, ice skating pairs at the Winter Olympics took tumbles on the slippery ice.

Is "slippery ice" redundant? In any case, the tumbles were.

Couples' figure skating, like dancing, seems to carry with it a host of lessons for relationships - in particular, marriages. Especially in these slippery times.

Perhaps the biggest lesson came from the biggest headline: the "icy stare" given by Barbara Fusar Poli to her partner Marizio Margaglio (Italy). After their tumble, she clearly knew who to blame: the man. She gave a long, unforgiving stare to the one she knew was responsible for the fall.

One of the most important lessons in any relationship is forgiveness. Ephesians 4 tells Christians, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [Instead,] be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Words to live by indeed! One book on marriage says that this is, in fact, the key to a successful marriage - forgiveness.

When the Italian couple skated out the following night, hand and hand, the crowd cheered. No spills this time. But that's really not the most important thing, is it?