Believing In Each Other

Believing in Each Other

Get up, for it is your duty to tell us how to proceed in setting things straight. We are behind you, so be strong and take action.

Ezra 10:4

You probably know that Nathaniel Hawthorne is among the great American writers. You may not know that he owes his acclaim in part to his inspiring wife, Sophia. Nathaniel went home from his job as a weigher and gauger at the Boston Custom House one day with a heavy heart because he had been fired. But when he told his wife of his failure, she exclaimed with joy, not disappointment. “Now,” she said, “you can write your book!”

Nathaniel didn’t share her joy. “And what shall we live on while I am writing it?”

To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money—enough for them to live on for an entire year. “Where on earth did you get that?” he exclaimed.

Sophia explained that she recognized in her husband the genius to write a masterpiece. Because of this, every week she saved a little money out of what had been allotted for housekeeping, and she had amassed enough to buy her husband one year’s worth of writing time.^aIt was during that year that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote one of the greatest novels of American literature, The Scarlet Letter.

The Hawthornes, by all accounts, enjoyed a long and happy marriage, and that is surely in part due to the mutual regard they had. Nathaniel referred to his wife as his Dove, saying that she “is, in the strictest sense, my sole companion; and I need no other—there is no vacancy in my mind, any more than in my heart. . . . Thank God that I suffice for her boundless heart!”^b

Sophia believed in her husband Nathaniel because she entered his world. Because she knew his dreams, she understood his passion for writing. Because she knew his talents, she believed in his possibilities. Empathy does that in a marriage. It helps us realize each other’s dreams. You see, once you understand what energizes your spouse’s vision for his or her life—as well as your life together—you’re far more likely to do whatever you can to make those dreams a reality. And he or she is far more likely to do the same for you.

How many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they’re on the same side?

—Zig Ziglar

^a 8

^b 9