Have you ever walked in on someone while they were changing? Or perhaps using the restroom? We automatically gasp, say "Oh! Sorry!" and close the door/turn around/ close eyes or something like that.
Well let's look at the second chapter of Genesis. It says that the man and women were naked, but without shame. Hmm.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are moving on from the "Original Unity" section and leaping into the "Original Nakedness". Now in today's society, when you say "naked" or "nude", people think you're referring to porn. This is clearly not the case. However, we are definitely talking about Adam and Eve seeing each other naked before and after the fall. And of course, it all comes from the Pope that told the restoration artist to take the fig leaves off Adam and Eve's private parts in the Sistine Chapel.
Now, the first thing JP2 does is brings "shame" to attention. Before they ate the apple, Adam and Eve were naked without shame. After, they make themselves loincloths and Adam tells God that he hid because he was afraid.
So what changed? If you're well-versed in theology (or not), you probably know about original sin. That's what changed. Thanks to the ideas from Original Unity, we know that Adam and Eve looked at each other and saw how they completed each other. They knew what it meant to be masculine. They knew how it meant to be feminine. There's nothing wrong with that. So why are they suddenly ashamed? We'll see as we continue these reflections. So no stripping in the name of Genesis people!!
Dear Lord, thank you for my body. Please help me to learn to love it and protect it and see it as the gift it is. Amen.
Love
Feb 5, 2012
Jan 29, 2012
I know alot about sex for a Virgin
Okay, I had to have a catchy title, right?
But seriously, this is where I get to talk about sex and how good it is. At least in the context of marriage.
See, in marriage, sex brings the couple closer. The couple literally becomes "one flesh" (think about your basic biology or sex-ed course) and enters the creation act itself. As JP2 says, sex "allows them [the married couple] to recognize each other reciprocally and to call each other by name, [!] as they did the first time" (pg 167). When a married couple has sex, they're reuniting, they're giving themselves to each other just like they did on their wedding night. It's not exciting because of all the crazy moves they have learned over the years (I guess), it's exciting because it IS.
See, this is something I think we college kids forget about sex. It's not just some fun thing we do. It's not even something you do to show a significant other you love them. It's a choice. You choose to freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully give yourself to your spouse. There should be no pressure. You should not feel pressured to give away something so special to anybody who promises anything less than eternity.
The sexual act unites a couple and can take them down a certain path. For a married couple, it teaches them more about each other. More about Christ and his church. The man learns more about the woman and vise versa. For an unmarried couple... it's a lie. You say I'm forever yours even though it's not true. You unite yourselves in a way that you're not ready for until marriage. Then when (okay if... but stats show that premarital sex isn't good for relationship stability...) you break up it's even harder.
I have a friend (who will remain anonymous) who has told me that she has been sexually active with her boyfriends at different periods. And you know what I notice? I notice that all of her breakups are hard. Very rough. Harder than they would be if she had remained chaste? I cannot say for sure... but that's what I believe.
Anyway, that's a little about what I know about sex. And with that I can proudly say on the World Wide Web that I'm waiting for marriage. :)
Dear Lord, it's hard living in this culture today and doing your will. Please help me to live out your plan for me. My body is a temple. My body is beautiful. Please do not let me profane it by using the sexual act in the wrong way. Amen
But seriously, this is where I get to talk about sex and how good it is. At least in the context of marriage.
See, in marriage, sex brings the couple closer. The couple literally becomes "one flesh" (think about your basic biology or sex-ed course) and enters the creation act itself. As JP2 says, sex "allows them [the married couple] to recognize each other reciprocally and to call each other by name, [!] as they did the first time" (pg 167). When a married couple has sex, they're reuniting, they're giving themselves to each other just like they did on their wedding night. It's not exciting because of all the crazy moves they have learned over the years (I guess), it's exciting because it IS.
See, this is something I think we college kids forget about sex. It's not just some fun thing we do. It's not even something you do to show a significant other you love them. It's a choice. You choose to freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully give yourself to your spouse. There should be no pressure. You should not feel pressured to give away something so special to anybody who promises anything less than eternity.
The sexual act unites a couple and can take them down a certain path. For a married couple, it teaches them more about each other. More about Christ and his church. The man learns more about the woman and vise versa. For an unmarried couple... it's a lie. You say I'm forever yours even though it's not true. You unite yourselves in a way that you're not ready for until marriage. Then when (okay if... but stats show that premarital sex isn't good for relationship stability...) you break up it's even harder.
I have a friend (who will remain anonymous) who has told me that she has been sexually active with her boyfriends at different periods. And you know what I notice? I notice that all of her breakups are hard. Very rough. Harder than they would be if she had remained chaste? I cannot say for sure... but that's what I believe.
Anyway, that's a little about what I know about sex. And with that I can proudly say on the World Wide Web that I'm waiting for marriage. :)
Dear Lord, it's hard living in this culture today and doing your will. Please help me to live out your plan for me. My body is a temple. My body is beautiful. Please do not let me profane it by using the sexual act in the wrong way. Amen
Jan 22, 2012
Take Two - We need each other
This is the second time I tried to read the 9th letter of JP2. I think this time I have a better understanding of it. Or at least one part. Maybe I'll be able to re-read over the other in a few minutes and understand it.
Well the title says it all. We need each other. Men and Women need each other. We need each other because we complete each other.
Wow, I've just not been up for reading heavy philosophy recently! Oh well, I think it's not too difficult to see what that tells the average college student like ourselves. You know how we always label certain tasks as "man things" and others as "woman things"? Maybe we need to take a closer look at that. Not just blow it off like society tells us to.
But this unity does mean that men and women need to respect each other. I don't think we have enough of that in society. On the woman's side, I know we have pornography and strip clubs. Let's face it, the men looking at those girls are not viewing them as a beautiful woman of God! They're using them for personal pleasure. And I know we girls can objectify men as well. We look at some guys based on how cute they are. We flirt with them for fun, giving them false signals.
Guys, we need to respect each other! For crying out loud....
That's all for this week. I've got a crazy week ahead wish me luck and I'll see you next week (metaphorically speaking).
Dear Lord, yes, sometimes I know I fail in my duty as a man or a woman. I know sometimes I do not work beside my brothers and sisters and help them to become holier. Please help me to always show my friends and family and others the respect I wish for myself.
Well the title says it all. We need each other. Men and Women need each other. We need each other because we complete each other.
Wow, I've just not been up for reading heavy philosophy recently! Oh well, I think it's not too difficult to see what that tells the average college student like ourselves. You know how we always label certain tasks as "man things" and others as "woman things"? Maybe we need to take a closer look at that. Not just blow it off like society tells us to.
But this unity does mean that men and women need to respect each other. I don't think we have enough of that in society. On the woman's side, I know we have pornography and strip clubs. Let's face it, the men looking at those girls are not viewing them as a beautiful woman of God! They're using them for personal pleasure. And I know we girls can objectify men as well. We look at some guys based on how cute they are. We flirt with them for fun, giving them false signals.
Guys, we need to respect each other! For crying out loud....
That's all for this week. I've got a crazy week ahead wish me luck and I'll see you next week (metaphorically speaking).
Dear Lord, yes, sometimes I know I fail in my duty as a man or a woman. I know sometimes I do not work beside my brothers and sisters and help them to become holier. Please help me to always show my friends and family and others the respect I wish for myself.
Jan 16, 2012
Awkward intermission
Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are still talking about unity. I'm sorry for not posting last week. I don't have a good excuse, so just accept my apology and know I'll try to be better here on out!
Well I'm reading this and I'm finding it hard to understand. I blame the NyQuil. So I'm just going to give a tip to all the men looking for ways to woo a woman. Song of Solomon/Songs. It has some of the most beautiful verses praising the woman ever. Let's face it: "Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ha, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down the mountains of Gilead..." (Songs 4: 1) while sounds kinda cheesy is MUCH more complementing than "you look better with the lights off".
Theology of the body is about how the human body reveals God and his plan for male and female, for the human race. Hopefully when I'm not drugged up I'll be better able to help unravel this mystery.
Well I'm reading this and I'm finding it hard to understand. I blame the NyQuil. So I'm just going to give a tip to all the men looking for ways to woo a woman. Song of Solomon/Songs. It has some of the most beautiful verses praising the woman ever. Let's face it: "Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ha, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down the mountains of Gilead..." (Songs 4: 1) while sounds kinda cheesy is MUCH more complementing than "you look better with the lights off".
Theology of the body is about how the human body reveals God and his plan for male and female, for the human race. Hopefully when I'm not drugged up I'll be better able to help unravel this mystery.
Jan 2, 2012
Bone of My Bone
Not going to lie, I didn't understand this at first. I was pretty confused. I blame the fact that it's late and I got home from work not too long ago.
Gotta love the subscript!
Anyway, this talk that JP2 gave was the first talk on "Original Unity", or the unity/oneness that Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) had before the fall. He focuses mostly on a few versus of Genesis 2 when God takes the rib from Adam, encloses it with flesh, and creates Eve.
Which sort of begs the question: why would God do this? He just finished creating a whole world out of nothing, so why would He need anything from Adam to create Eve? The answer, He doesn't.
There's a cute little story, that man used to be this amazing creature but the gods were jealous and split man in half. So to this day, man is searching for his other half. This is a similar concept here. Even before Adam and Eve consummated their marriage, they were one. They were of the same body, just like babies are one body that comes from their parents.
Not only were Adam and Eve "one", but they were the same. Adam had never seen another person before, and he's excited! When we read "this time she is flesh from my flesh...." we normally just read through it. But JP2 calls Adam joyful. He is excited, almost praising this new creature. Eve is the most amazing thing Adam has ever seen.
As a girl, I like this. Sometimes I wonder, do guys ever think of me in this way? But then I think about all the degrading things in society... from grievous things like pornography to basic things like music... and I'm just not sure. Sometimes I lose faith that there's still such holy love and respect out there. But then I have my guy friends who are like this, who do respect and love women. And really, it makes me happy.
Chivalry for the win!!!!!
Dear Lord, I would like to thank you for all the people of the opposite gender. Please help me in my search for my other half, and I would like to thank you if I am lucky enough to have found such a person! Also, please help me to encourage my friends to live out this love in respect seen so early in human history. It can be hard Lord, but give me the grace! Amen
Gotta love the subscript!
Anyway, this talk that JP2 gave was the first talk on "Original Unity", or the unity/oneness that Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) had before the fall. He focuses mostly on a few versus of Genesis 2 when God takes the rib from Adam, encloses it with flesh, and creates Eve.
Which sort of begs the question: why would God do this? He just finished creating a whole world out of nothing, so why would He need anything from Adam to create Eve? The answer, He doesn't.
There's a cute little story, that man used to be this amazing creature but the gods were jealous and split man in half. So to this day, man is searching for his other half. This is a similar concept here. Even before Adam and Eve consummated their marriage, they were one. They were of the same body, just like babies are one body that comes from their parents.
Not only were Adam and Eve "one", but they were the same. Adam had never seen another person before, and he's excited! When we read "this time she is flesh from my flesh...." we normally just read through it. But JP2 calls Adam joyful. He is excited, almost praising this new creature. Eve is the most amazing thing Adam has ever seen.
As a girl, I like this. Sometimes I wonder, do guys ever think of me in this way? But then I think about all the degrading things in society... from grievous things like pornography to basic things like music... and I'm just not sure. Sometimes I lose faith that there's still such holy love and respect out there. But then I have my guy friends who are like this, who do respect and love women. And really, it makes me happy.
Chivalry for the win!!!!!
Dear Lord, I would like to thank you for all the people of the opposite gender. Please help me in my search for my other half, and I would like to thank you if I am lucky enough to have found such a person! Also, please help me to encourage my friends to live out this love in respect seen so early in human history. It can be hard Lord, but give me the grace! Amen
Dec 25, 2011
Merry Christmas... let's talk about death
I was driving home from work tonight and a car turned out in front of me. It really wasn't a big deal, he was turning left and I was turning right and there was more than enough time for me to slow down and let him go (which is what I did). But that made me think: what if he hit me? What if I got killed in a car accident on the way home on Christmas Eve? What if anybody died in a crash or for any other reasons this close to Christmas.
That would suck for my family (hopefully I'd be singing with the angels).
My point is, we all know stuff about death. We've probably known somebody who has died or is at death's door. We all know it's painful. Perhaps we've read Heaven is for Real or other such books and know something of near-death experiences. Perhaps we've learned about judgement and as much about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory as we possibly can. But in the end, we do not know a lot about death. What is it like to die? Very few people can answer this question. But we still don't know until we experience death.
Still, we know more than Adam did. He'd never read those books... this was just a little bit before 2000. He wasn't bombarded by news media: the news was that he woke up and walked around a bush. He'd never had anybody he had known die at this point, he was the first person. Adam had absolutely no exposure to death.
Yet, according to Bl. John Paul II, Adam had an idea based on what he had. He had a body and a spirit, he was blessed with the gift of existence. JP2 says that Adam knew that when God said "if you eat of this tree you shall die," Adam at least associated "death" with "leaving his body".
It's amazing. We owe are very existence to God. Adam existed because of God, and this command probably helped him understand that. We owe life to God, and we owe death (aka hopefully even better life) to God. God. God. God. We really are nothing without him.
We need God. That's the bottom line. Every aspect of ourselves needs God. Haven't you noticed when we decide that we don't need God, everything seems to go wrong? In my personal life, the days when I decide not to pray are the worst. My best days are definitely when I have received the Eucharist, the body and blood and soul and divinity of my God, Jesus Christ. My worst days are when I wake up and don't think about him. And in society, we can see how a lot of our crumbling comes from denial of God, or God's plan. My example: greed. The American economy is so bad because people are greedy. The rich and the poor. Enough Americans want what they cannot afford or exploit people for the sake of having more. Thanks to greed we get violent crime, white collar crime, and a crappy job market.
Guys, we need God. Whether or not we know it, we need God! And that is what Christmas is all about. We need God, and so God gave us himself. We definitely cannot beat that as far as Christmas gifts go, but we can at least give God ourselves in return.
Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday! Thank you for coming to the world for my sake. Help me to continue to acknowledge you throughout the week and to realize how needy I truly am! Also, please comfort those who have lost a loved one recently. Please be with them, and give them the graces they need to not only keep going, but to have a Merry Christmas nevertheless. Amen
That would suck for my family (hopefully I'd be singing with the angels).
My point is, we all know stuff about death. We've probably known somebody who has died or is at death's door. We all know it's painful. Perhaps we've read Heaven is for Real or other such books and know something of near-death experiences. Perhaps we've learned about judgement and as much about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory as we possibly can. But in the end, we do not know a lot about death. What is it like to die? Very few people can answer this question. But we still don't know until we experience death.
Still, we know more than Adam did. He'd never read those books... this was just a little bit before 2000. He wasn't bombarded by news media: the news was that he woke up and walked around a bush. He'd never had anybody he had known die at this point, he was the first person. Adam had absolutely no exposure to death.
Yet, according to Bl. John Paul II, Adam had an idea based on what he had. He had a body and a spirit, he was blessed with the gift of existence. JP2 says that Adam knew that when God said "if you eat of this tree you shall die," Adam at least associated "death" with "leaving his body".
It's amazing. We owe are very existence to God. Adam existed because of God, and this command probably helped him understand that. We owe life to God, and we owe death (aka hopefully even better life) to God. God. God. God. We really are nothing without him.
We need God. That's the bottom line. Every aspect of ourselves needs God. Haven't you noticed when we decide that we don't need God, everything seems to go wrong? In my personal life, the days when I decide not to pray are the worst. My best days are definitely when I have received the Eucharist, the body and blood and soul and divinity of my God, Jesus Christ. My worst days are when I wake up and don't think about him. And in society, we can see how a lot of our crumbling comes from denial of God, or God's plan. My example: greed. The American economy is so bad because people are greedy. The rich and the poor. Enough Americans want what they cannot afford or exploit people for the sake of having more. Thanks to greed we get violent crime, white collar crime, and a crappy job market.
Guys, we need God. Whether or not we know it, we need God! And that is what Christmas is all about. We need God, and so God gave us himself. We definitely cannot beat that as far as Christmas gifts go, but we can at least give God ourselves in return.
Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday! Thank you for coming to the world for my sake. Help me to continue to acknowledge you throughout the week and to realize how needy I truly am! Also, please comfort those who have lost a loved one recently. Please be with them, and give them the graces they need to not only keep going, but to have a Merry Christmas nevertheless. Amen
Dec 19, 2011
2 Roads Diverge...
Did anybody read the poem by... I think it was Walt Whitman? It's about a guy walking in forest and he decides to take the grassy path because it looked like nobody else had. It is pretty easy to see the analogy here between the path and life. We all made choices and different choices will lead us to very different places.
That's one of the topics that JP2 brings up: choice. We all have the choice to choose right and wrong. God gave Adam a tree that he was not supposed to eat from. And for the time, Adam chooses not to eat of it.
If any of you have read my little bio, you know that I'm a Criminal Justice major. Well I just finished a Criminology course, it's amazing some of the theories. Some of them imply that you're bound to commit crime because you have these forces inside (or outside) forcing you to make this particular choice. The funny thing is, we still have the option to choose otherwise. Unless somebody has put some sort of brain-bug in your head and uses a remote control to force your hands to kill someone... it's your choice. We all have the capability to choose between right and wrong. Inside, we all at least have a basic understanding of that is good and what is bad. Do we choose to go through with it?
That does not mean the choice is easy. It can be very hard to make the right choice. It can be very hard to stay at home instead of going to the party where you know there will be heavy drinking and sex. It can be hard to go to a party and tell people you're not drinking. It can be hard to speak up when you watch your friends act in ways that you think may very well come back to haunt them. But do we still have the choice? Yes.
Second point, a point that I think I've been senselessly beating into your heads since the beginning of this blog: humans are not animals. Yes, I've taken basic biology and I know we belong to Kingdom Anamalia. But we are more complex than ordinary animals. JP2 puts that into his talk again because, in a world mixed with mechanism and relativism, we need to know. Here's one new piece of evidence he gives, though:
If you read Genesis 2, it lists out tilling the ground and making the waters rise (thank you Ancient Egypt!). What does this mean? I was confused until I thought about monkeys. Scientists have observed how monkeys, chimps, and several other animals have learned to use tools to help them survive. But, as far as I know, none of them actually farm. None of them have actually worked to grow their own food. Only beavers manipulate the water to help with food. There's a difference, in my opinion, between tools and technology. Tools (my definition) are the small things we use to help ourselves. Technology is changing, so I can't really think of a definition. Anyway, while humans have moved from pyramids to skyscrapers, animals are still hitting oysters with rocks.
My point, and I think JP2's point too, is that humans are much more special than animals. We are capable of so much more thanks to our Heavenly Father.
Dear Lord, please bless us as we live out this week! Help us all to develop our consciences so that we may make the right choices always. And help us remember your Son for His birthday next week! Amen.
That's one of the topics that JP2 brings up: choice. We all have the choice to choose right and wrong. God gave Adam a tree that he was not supposed to eat from. And for the time, Adam chooses not to eat of it.
If any of you have read my little bio, you know that I'm a Criminal Justice major. Well I just finished a Criminology course, it's amazing some of the theories. Some of them imply that you're bound to commit crime because you have these forces inside (or outside) forcing you to make this particular choice. The funny thing is, we still have the option to choose otherwise. Unless somebody has put some sort of brain-bug in your head and uses a remote control to force your hands to kill someone... it's your choice. We all have the capability to choose between right and wrong. Inside, we all at least have a basic understanding of that is good and what is bad. Do we choose to go through with it?
That does not mean the choice is easy. It can be very hard to make the right choice. It can be very hard to stay at home instead of going to the party where you know there will be heavy drinking and sex. It can be hard to go to a party and tell people you're not drinking. It can be hard to speak up when you watch your friends act in ways that you think may very well come back to haunt them. But do we still have the choice? Yes.
Second point, a point that I think I've been senselessly beating into your heads since the beginning of this blog: humans are not animals. Yes, I've taken basic biology and I know we belong to Kingdom Anamalia. But we are more complex than ordinary animals. JP2 puts that into his talk again because, in a world mixed with mechanism and relativism, we need to know. Here's one new piece of evidence he gives, though:
If you read Genesis 2, it lists out tilling the ground and making the waters rise (thank you Ancient Egypt!). What does this mean? I was confused until I thought about monkeys. Scientists have observed how monkeys, chimps, and several other animals have learned to use tools to help them survive. But, as far as I know, none of them actually farm. None of them have actually worked to grow their own food. Only beavers manipulate the water to help with food. There's a difference, in my opinion, between tools and technology. Tools (my definition) are the small things we use to help ourselves. Technology is changing, so I can't really think of a definition. Anyway, while humans have moved from pyramids to skyscrapers, animals are still hitting oysters with rocks.
My point, and I think JP2's point too, is that humans are much more special than animals. We are capable of so much more thanks to our Heavenly Father.
Dear Lord, please bless us as we live out this week! Help us all to develop our consciences so that we may make the right choices always. And help us remember your Son for His birthday next week! Amen.
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