three

for a fleeting moment 

her words were suspended. 

time stopped cold. 

he was caught in her sparkling grey eyes. 

and then she paused imperceptibly, 

herself captured by her own radiant snare. 

for a fleeting moment 

her words were suspended. 

time stopped cold. 

they both were caught in the delicate web of her spell. 

and then, as a flash of light, they went on, 

he, engrossed in her tale, and she in the telling.

but just for a moment her words were suspended. 

and time stopped cold. 

He had once read that every meaningful, intimate relationship was a triangle; that sharing the relationship with its two primary parties was a third person. This third person was the relationship itself. This third person was in fact, the dominant party, determining the direction and intensity and character of what transpired between the other two. Now he found this third person alive and vibrant in his life. The third person was born quietly, within a strong spiritual bond that formed rapidly and grew steadily. Neither he nor she had a clear sense of the direction or potential of the relationship at first. Neither had a clear sense of the intentions or interest level of the other. But both persisted and nurtured the thing growing between them. Each found it inspiring and stimulating and comfortable and very good. 

Openness was a hallmark of their interaction and discourse. She had been engaged in a deep and extensive personal transformation for several years, leading to, and following her divorce some three years before they met. In some ways, she was far along the path that he had just begun. He found it instructive and encouraging to draw from her insights into the transformation of faith he was experiencing. She too was captivated with the dismantling and reconstruction that was taking place within him, and found resonance there with her own experiences.

The relationship had captured them both powerfully, and drew them onward in concert with its own objectives, which at deep levels coincided with and blended the needs and wishes and desires within each of them. This integration was remarkable and powerful, and far bigger than the wishes or intentions of either one of them. Neither of them could effectively steer and control it. It seemed to have an irresistible life of its own, which would not be denied or manipulated or controlled by their individual perceptions and wishes. The relationship progressed at its own stately, disciplined pace, seemingly intent on protecting them from themselves and each other, preserving and strengthening itself and each of them, and moving toward its own fullness, without concern for how limited their understanding of that fullness might be in the intervening process.

This third person in the triangle was the youngest of the three, born only months ago, yet inheriting and merging the wisdom and knowledge and experience and wishes and passions of both of them. Out of that blending came a maturity, strength, and power neither possessed alone.