Gem, The Window Principle

The Window Principle

by Pennie Rumsey

Have you ever read something that just stuck in your head and the more you thought about it, the more you learned from it?

This week I went to a family reunion and had some time to think as I drove. As I thought about a particular relationship, I learned what I call The Window Principle.

The idea behind The Window Principle (about one relationship having two sides) comes from this article.

Here is this week'sArticle Gem by Nicholeen called “A Mighty Change of Heart”.

The Window

I don't know if you have ever had a relationship where you felt someone treated you unfairly. Odds are you have. I hope this will help you start to see the relationship differently next time the negative starts coming toward you.

Imagine a line stretching out in front of you like a long road you are driving. You are at point A. Then imagine up ahead of you in the distance is this other person in the relationship. They are at point C. In between you is a window, which is at point B. Through the window you can see clearly things as they happen in the relationship.

The window plays a very key role in your relationship. The window absorbs all the negative emotion coming from the other side and keeps it from getting through to you. As you see the other person from your side of the window, you are able to send back love for hate. You can see them in a way that allows you to love them and allows them to change because you are not judging them. If you got angry or reacted to the negative they sent out, it could cause them to drive deeper into their negative behavior. As you see through this window, you are able to send out love because you are accepting this as a No Answer. It is a part of life right now and it is what it is. As the window absorbs all the negative emotions, it leaves you free from having to react to any of it. You have no need to fight back; no need to get angry. It is not yours and you can leave it on the other side.

On our way home from our family vacation, we stopped at Cove Fort just south of Beaver, Utah. We met an amazing man that taught us about the fort. At the end of our tour, he gave my children a little wooden toy. It was a string about two feet long tied in a knot with a wooden circle threaded in the middle. What he said caught my attention because of The Window Principle I had learned just a few days before. He said to the children, “You see this string? This side is like your mom, and this side is like your dad. This knot is like their marriage. And this wooden peace is like Christ. He has to be in the center or it will not work.” He was, of course, talking about the toy not working, but I clearly saw the symbolism that Christ is that window between us. It is because of Him that The Window Principle works. If He is in the middle we can return love for hate, or any other negative emotion aimed our way.

If you do all that you can on your side of the window, He will make up any difference in the end.

To the victory of your family,

Pennie Rumsey

Student Inspirer