Too Much Television
Television watching may seem less significant than other factors we have mentioned. However, television promotes passivity; people wrapped up in watching T.V. have neither the motivation nor the energy to develop an intimate relationship. It can become so hypnotic that one does not realize how much time is being given to T.V. viewing.
It can turn into a source of real friction. One partner stays up to watch the late-night programs and then expects the other to still be alert and ready for lovemaking when he or she comes to bed. Sometimes television viewing is used deliberately as a means of avoiding sex.
So weigh your priorities and decide which you would rather have: a life spent passively staring into a television screen or an intimate relationship with your marriage partner.
Up to this point you and your partner may have developed no more than a fraction of the intimacy you both are capable of. Use the spiritual dynamic of hope, and look on your untapped potential for warmth, caring, and tender sharing as an area where you can grow together as you consciously seek to build a lasting intimacy. This kind of growth does not happen quickly, but gradually, the way people themselves grow. And you will find, as you make progress, that coming to know a loved one intimately is never boring! The rewards will speak for themselves.
Posted in Hindrances to Intimacy
To Ed Wheat Sr. and Gladys Gibson Wheat, whose commitment, devotion, warmth, generosity, and integrity stood for fifty years as a beautiful picture of genuine agape love.