the scene from the window

Yesterday, out the window of the church I saw a caucasian black-haired woman in her 20's or early 30's was very intentionally plodding down the road, visibly upset, followed by a man considerably shorter and darker than her who was gesturing dramatically. He was followed by a beige Ford, inching slowly behind them both on the shoulder of the frontage road that runs parallel with the church and the highway.
The man seemed to be fighting for the walking woman's attention, sometimes grabbing her arm or trying to catch up with her, but she would yank her arm away or push him back.

Something was clearly wrong.

This scene continued for about 20 yards or so (although I am a very poor judge of spatial things). Finally the man caught up to the woman and instead of talking to her from behind her, barricaded himself in front of her, seemingly pleading that she stop and listen.

For a while there was a lot of back-and-forth. He was presenting some sort of argument that she was visibly rejecting what he was saying by pushing him away when he got close to her or touched her. Then a middle-aged woman emerged from the car that had been following them and stood nearby.

After some time, I saw a staff member of the church slowly walking toward the scene of the drama, although when he got close the couple didn't seem to take much notice and kept arguing. The staff member began to talk with the woman that was driving the car.

 The gestures of the couple indicated that the fight was escalating until finally the woman violently pushed the man away, buried her face in her hands and bent over as if in wrenching pain. The man stepped back. All the activity seemed to freeze as the woman cried.

L-rd, please be there with her. Be there with him, with them. Bring calm to the storm. Peace, in the name of Jesus. My spirit was moved to intercede, knowing there was nothing else I could do. All the while my mind was wondering why in the world I was seeing this.

She cried and cried, and then turned her back to everyone, stepped behind the car and began to wretch. The man, seemingly silenced by what was happening to her simply put his hand on her back, likely not knowing anything else to do.

Soon two police cars showed up and officers imposed themselves upon the scene, signaling to the church staff member that he was ok to leave.

As he slowly walked back up to the hill I slowly walked away from the window. I didn't know the reason for the chaos, but it wreaked of betrayal and pain and my heart hurt to watch.

I later found out that the woman had confronted the man, her husband, at the college up the road and had accused him of cheating after she found out he had been talking with another woman over the course of a few weeks. Evidently, up the road from what was visible from the window where I was, the woman had thrown punches at the man, which he took willingly without retaliating. She had also tried to jump the chain link fence on the side of the road that leads up to the highway. Both the husband and the woman's mother had been following her in concern for her safety.

I don't know whether the woman's accusations of her husband were founded on anything true, or if they came from a pattern of paranoia. I don't know if this woman had a history of anger and self-destructive behavior. I don't know the kinds of things that had happened to her and her family throughout her life to get her to this climactic point. But I do know that if my pain and storm of emotion were to lead to such a public display, to be so upset that my body vomits out the toxicity...it doesn't really matter what caused it because it's very real to me. Heartbreak is very real. I know how it feels to feels to feel so wrecked that you try to run away from everyone and jump out of your own skin. I guess I don't know exactly how she felt, but there was some basis for empathy.

I don't really have a conclusion. I'm still wondering why this whole thing happened right in front of me, but I could feel it from the window. I hope the woman and the man are ok and that the peace of the L-rd breaks in.