I have this idea for a story that might make into a good book. Maybe even a movie or play. It’s about this couple who have been married for about 7 years. They break up one day over nothing at all and end up getting a divorce a few months later.

After the divorce both of them begin to have second thoughts. The ex-husband has been dating some, and the ex-wife has started seeing an old flame from high school. But they both miss the meaningful “center” they once had with each other.

Dating, the man soon discovers, is not what he once thought it would be. And the woman realizes that high school flames are great when you’re a kid, but are not so hot when you have grown into adult reality. Surface contacts that remain skin deep do not nourish the soul for either of the divorced characters.

It takes a while, and a few chance encounters, to start the ex-couple talking to each other again. They begin to just talk, meeting for a lunch, and then an afternoon at the beach, and then an actual date.

These two have history, which gives them stuff to argue about, but it also gives them memories to laugh about, and the laughter feels good. It feels right because it goes all the way down into the deep places of the heart.

Still, they are not eager to jump back into a relationship that simply did not work. What if they “fell apart” again? What if things dried up again, like they did before?

They try to just remain good friends, and that almost works. But human nature being what it is, they soon realize they must make a choice. Will they admit and give in to love, or will they continue to try and live separate lives, each making a self-centered world?

Just when it looks as though they might drift back into each other’s arms and lives for good, the man finds out he has an incurable illness. Something like cancer. And then he learns that his time may be very short. The last thing he wants is to cheat his one true love out of a lifetime of happiness, so he tries to hide both the bad news and his love from his ex-wife. He tries to put distance between them again.

At first, she thinks he is simply losing interest. She confronts him once or twice, but doesn’t really push the issue because she thinks she has no right. Maybe it’s for the best that they simply give up and go their separate ways. Maybe their love wasn’t really meant to be. Maybe they were not really destined to be together.

The odd thing about stories like this is that when we read them or watch them being acted out on the screen, we can see what is right and what is wrong. We know that the couple should be honest with each other about their love and their need for each other. We know that God meant them to be together and that they should fight to make it so.

Daily life, on the other hand, can be confusing and chaotic. Angry words and hidden sins get in the way of clear thinking. We know the characters in a story should forgive each other and trust each other. After all, life is short for all of us. But in our own relationships, the ones that really matter, we tremble and wait for signs and wonder what we should do.

The only value in stories is our ability to apply what we see and grasp to our own lives. All of us need to learn from external sources, and we need to be able to apply what we learn. Life and love is better when we apply truth, for example. And every relationship benefits from fresh doses of love and kindness and trust.

Anyway, I think I will work on the story idea a bit more. I need a good ending, something really big and satisfying. If I come up with something soon, I’ll share it with you here.

Jim