Professional Documents
Culture Documents
part of maintaining a strong relationship and how it fuels attachment and self-direction. Weve reduced adults to
infants and reduced marriage to providing safety, security & compensation for childhood disappointments
(p.43)
How can you tell the difference between these two types of intimacy? Other-validated intimacy sounds like this:
Ill tell you about myself, but only if you then tell me about yourself. If you dont, I wont either. But I want to, so
you have to. Ill go first, and then youll be obligated to disclose - its only fair. And if I go first, you have to make me
feel secure. I need to be able to trust you!
Self-validated intimacy in long-term relationships sounds quite different: I dont expect you to agree with
me; you werent put on the face of the earth to validate and reinforce me. But I want you to love me - and you cant
really do that if you dont know me. I dont want your rejection - but I must face that possibility if Im ever to feel
accepted or secure with you. Its time to show myself to you and confront my separateness and mortality. One day
when we are no longer together on this earth, I want to know you knew me.
(p. 107)
In these notes, Schnark has given us a secular view on marriage and close relationships but its pretty exciting in
the light of Christian discipleship. So much of what he talks about with differentiation, etc, fits with what God is
wanting to do in us setting us free from the grasping self, and from finding our worth in what other people might
think of us; so that we can learn to love as He does. God is wanting to make us secure in Christ and in His love, so
that we look to Him to meet our needs; instead of being deluded that we can fulfil our own needs eg. through having
someone love us. Whatever you do, dont think marriage (or a relationship, sex, or even close friendships) are what
will fix our insecurities and make everything OK! Marriage will expose and highlight problems even increase them!
So, giving ourself to God, walking daily with Him, and learning to live and love in community is probably the best
preparation for strong & close relationships (or marriage) that you can get!