If you ask a group of men what comes to mind when they hear this word, usually they will answer something to do with sex. If you ask a group of women the same question, they tend to refer to closeness and understanding. This was my experience when I posed it to a group.
Here is a dictionary definition of the word “intimate”: 1.Marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity. 2.Pertaining to or indicative of one’s deepest nature. 3. Essential; innermost. 4.Characterized by informality and privacy. 5.Very private, personal, secret.
Second definition for the verb form of the word “intimate”: 1.To communicate with a hint or other indirect sign; imply subtly.
Interesting, don’t you think, that there’s no mention whatsoever of love or sex in the word’s definitions.
As writers we know words "own" connotations, developed from cultural uses, slang, or clever implications used over time in order to gain association with a word. These connotations add meanings to words with good or bad results.
A good writer helps a reader gain intimate knowledge of characters in a variety of ways including the chosen POV. How much is revealed about each character determines the investment in that character by both the author and the reader. How much should the reader know and when should the reader learn it? A certain intimacy between writer and reader must be incurred on the pages of a novel for the reader to attach empathy, concern, admiration, or any such emotion that makes him care what happens to the character(s).
Now let me ask you this: How would you assess your intimacy with the Lord? Is your relationship with Him at an intimate level? Do you yearn to know Him more? Can you say you know Him? Does He inspire you to invest your attention and emotion in Him? I have learned it’s exceedingly difficult to attain true intimacy at any level without first being intimate with Him . . .
God, I’m always desperate for you. You are what I need. Always. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.