There is nothing safe about sex. There never will be. Norman Mailer
Can sex lead us to holiness? Can sex be a transcendental experience? Most religions, eastern religions, seem to think so. It is hard to find anything in Christianity and the old Testament that would agree. The only place where I can find that it even hints at it is in Genesis 2 where Eve is made from Adams rib. The implied meaning being that man and woman are not complete without each other. But, the usual interpretation is that Eve is somehow less because of it. To me, Adam can't be whole without her. His relationship with her completes him and him her. I will write more later. I have to go swim now.
Can sex lead us to holiness? Can sex be a transcendental experience? Most religions, eastern religions, seem to think so. It is hard to find anything in Christianity and the old Testament that would agree. The only place where I can find that it even hints at it is in Genesis 2 where Eve is made from Adams rib. The implied meaning being that man and woman are not complete without each other. But, the usual interpretation is that Eve is somehow less because of it. To me, Adam can't be whole without her. His relationship with her completes him and him her. I will write more later. I have to go swim now.
Labels: Can Sex lead us to Holiness?
posted by Anne Coe | 5:11 AM
3 Comments:
I disagree with Mailer, which is safe now that he can no longer respond. In a loving relationship, sex reminds partners that they are emotionally safe even at their most vulnerable. It can even establish a safe atmosphere for discussion of things that might otherwise be threatening. Can sex be a transcendental experience? Absolutely. Sex, again in a loving relationship, seems to me to be overwhelmingly more spiritual than physical. Yes, there are the fun, physical, and therapeutic sensations of arousal and release, which are momentarily transcendent, but these are paltry compared to the spiritual well-being that comes in the afterglow of sex in a loving relationship. Can sex lead us to holiness? Perhaps. If holiness is selflessness and sinlessness, then sex in a loving relationship can certainly lead us close. I do not disdain sex that is not in a loving relationship, but however much fun it might be, I think it has no potential to transcend or lead us to holiness.
You comments always leave me somewhat speechless. It is amazing to me how much a dichotomy sexuality is in our culture. The ultimate way to holiness and transformation and the sure path to sin and separation. This was a major theme in Hermann Hesse's Demian which I read as a young woman on a train somewhere in Europe. The book was pivotal and changed me although I remained stupid for a long time after.
I remember reading at one time that sex is everything your mother told you it was, and a whole lot more dangerous (Donald Symons -- The evolution of human sexuality).
As a student we had to study the statistics on the homicides that were sex related, in the sense of killing a partner, a partner's new partner, or a partner's old partner, etc. This was quite impressive.
What an irony it is that this act, that can lead to murder and other sins, can also be something lovely. We are so very vulnerable not only in the sex act, but when we love someone. When there is trust in such a relationship it must come close to the divine.
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