Debbie Maken comments on Romantic Love and apparent Monks in training!
Captain Sensible writes: I am delighted to say that I have received a comment from the author Debbie Maken in response to the post entitled "Wisdom and foolishness in the strangest places".
Rather than only post it in the comments section, I have taken the decision to also post it here - so vitally important is the message contained within it.
"It is amazing that a pop star would be able to spot something as sublime as the consuming need for romantic love, and yet Christians would feel the need to squelch same, as if it were an idol, something to subdue, master, destroy so that it cannot get in the way of our otherwise mediocre, half-hearted, mildly devoted relationships with God. None of us are that single-minded about God-- whether married or single. The simple reason for this is because God did not create us to be that way. We were not born to be monks, and we kid ourselves and contradict our very nature, the more that we think we are. We are not monks in any aspect of our lives from personal consumption to spending habits to being endlessly entertained, and yet when it comes to our sexuality, we think our selective monkishness and continued passivity to downright neglect of marriage will bring about more spirituality or devotion. There is a good word for cafeteria monkishness-- hypocrite.
"God is the creator of our sexuality and He meant for it to be good and for it to be acted on in the most appropriate way-- through marriage. For us to now place such a desire in competition with the creator of it is truly foolish.
"Sometimes when I hear about these bachelors writing on sites like Purposefully Single and all of these other singleness pundits extolling the virtues of this mystifying gift (the "gift of singleness"), I often feel like we are the children of Israel, where the promises and blessings of the Covenant are going to be skipped over us but be given to others who have followed His blueprint more closely-- i.e. to be fruitful and multiply. The broken hearts of many single women and men is only the beginning; we should fear the fallout a generation from now if this misteaching about the gift of singleness actually seeps any further into the body of Christ.
"Many thanks to those who publish this blog and for all your support of my book."
Debbie Maken
Rather than only post it in the comments section, I have taken the decision to also post it here - so vitally important is the message contained within it.
"It is amazing that a pop star would be able to spot something as sublime as the consuming need for romantic love, and yet Christians would feel the need to squelch same, as if it were an idol, something to subdue, master, destroy so that it cannot get in the way of our otherwise mediocre, half-hearted, mildly devoted relationships with God. None of us are that single-minded about God-- whether married or single. The simple reason for this is because God did not create us to be that way. We were not born to be monks, and we kid ourselves and contradict our very nature, the more that we think we are. We are not monks in any aspect of our lives from personal consumption to spending habits to being endlessly entertained, and yet when it comes to our sexuality, we think our selective monkishness and continued passivity to downright neglect of marriage will bring about more spirituality or devotion. There is a good word for cafeteria monkishness-- hypocrite.
"God is the creator of our sexuality and He meant for it to be good and for it to be acted on in the most appropriate way-- through marriage. For us to now place such a desire in competition with the creator of it is truly foolish.
"Sometimes when I hear about these bachelors writing on sites like Purposefully Single and all of these other singleness pundits extolling the virtues of this mystifying gift (the "gift of singleness"), I often feel like we are the children of Israel, where the promises and blessings of the Covenant are going to be skipped over us but be given to others who have followed His blueprint more closely-- i.e. to be fruitful and multiply. The broken hearts of many single women and men is only the beginning; we should fear the fallout a generation from now if this misteaching about the gift of singleness actually seeps any further into the body of Christ.
"Many thanks to those who publish this blog and for all your support of my book."
Debbie Maken
posted by Captain Sensible at 12:16 AM
2 Comments:
It has to be said that some men in particular do struggle with containing their baser urges.
But marriage is not the answer!
Rather, I have heard that there are a number of very good sites on the internet that can help our brothers with this little problem.
They seem rather reluctant to discuss it with me for some reason, so I can't give out any exact sites, but I understand they usually have the letter "X" in them.
(Like as in a kiss! Isn't that lovely?)
Hope that helps!
Today's daily Bible reading from Jeff Lucas ("Lucas on Life Every Day" available from www.cwr.org.uk) says the following:
God made sex, which says something to us about His nature. He had created parts of the human body for the sole purposes of pleasure. Human intimacy could have been reduced to a hug or a handshake: the procreation of children accomplished by a colder procedure than sexual intimacy. But God has created the playful, giving, joyous (and sometimes vaguely bizarre) act that is sexual intercourse. There's a whole book in the Bible -- the Song of Songs -- that most believe is an unbridled celebration of erotic love. And so to thoroughly enjoy sex -- and take an adventurous, creative approach to it -- is not lust. To admire and notice the body and beauty of another is not lust. To struggle with feelings of pent-up sexual energy if you are single or, if you are married, to know frustration because distance or circumstances have interrupted your sex life, is not lust. God has made us sexual beings by design; but for our protection, has provided context for the expression of that powerful element of our humanity.
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