Author: John Mark Green

For the past year, I have enjoyed the wonderful privilege of experiencing transformational love. It has been said that love is a “many-splendored thing,” and this is true. It may touch us in a variety of compassionate, romantic, sensual, and companionable ways. All these manifestations are life-enriching, but, in its most potent form, love is deeply transformational. The nature of the transformation will be different for each person who experiences it, uniquely shaped by the participants. I’ll share a few of the ways it has impacted my own life. A sense of unwavering acceptance. Fear (especially fear of rejection) can play havoc in…

As a writer of poetry, I often think in analogies – observing how one thing is similar to another. This is how one day I drew a mental connection between the blood circulatory system in the human body, and communication in a healthy relationship. Let me sketch it out for you, and I think you’ll see what I mean The bloodstream is vital to the health of the body for a number of reasons: It carries oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. It helps remove carbon dioxide and other waste products. It is a vital to the immune system -…

Do you have a friend who is always dating, but can’t seem to form a relationship that lasts? Ever felt that looking for the ‘right one’ is like searching for a needle in a haystack? I’m going to let you in on a simple secret that will make the quest for finding lasting love easier. But first, let’s consider where many people go wrong. Auditioning for a role. What often happens is that people to find someone they are attracted to and then begin behaving as if they are an actor auditioning for a role in that person’s movie. It’s as if they are reading lines;…

Ever been in a relationship in which you find that you are investing much more of yourself than the other person is? In a friendship, this can be troubling. Eventually, you will begin to question the strength of the bond and may end up drifting apart. Much more alarming, is when you are in a romantic relationship and realize that there is a significant relational imbalance. Your partner isn’t present and engaged to the same degree that you are. I’m not talking about minor differences here. This is to the degree that it is glaringly obvious.  If you come to…

Once, a bird flew in through an open door of my house and darted frantically around the living room and kitchen. Eventually, it calmed and hid behind a decorative pot on a high shelf. I quietly climbed up up on a step-stool, reached behind the pot and somehow managed to enclose the bird in my hand without it getting away. I could feel its small form fluttering and struggling inside my hand, and I was careful to keep my fingers loosely closed around it so that I didn’t squeeze too tightly while I carried it outside to release it. Loving someone is…