Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Contraception and the Cross

If someone came to me and said, "I am thinking of going on the pill because I want to have sex with my boyfriend. What do you think?"  I would say, "Take the cross and leave the pill."  Why?  Well, I think that there is something about the cross that is fulfilling, that has something to do with making us better people.  I don't think that Jesus says, "Take up your cross," because he wants us to be miserable.  God did not make us to be miserable, but whole.  God is pretty smart from looking around at this vast universe.  If God did become human and took up the cross, then maybe there is something to it.  If, when I was dating in the promiscuous 60's, and met a person who said no to my romancing because they were practicing chastity, I think that I would be fascinated.  That is not an easy thing to do.  I suspect that it is just as difficult now, but this is just a guess.  Is it really in my best interest to be able to do what I want, when I want?  To limit my struggles to areas where I cannot escape from them anyway does have a "cross" to it, but I think that Jesus had something else in mind.  To be more free to do what I want, is not necessarily a good thing.  The seven deadly sins seem to be common to the human condition.  On any one day, I am steeped in or struggling with some of them.  The cross may be the only way for me to be the best that God made me to be.  To place limits and then to struggle with those limits might reveal a beauty in life I did not know.  Jesus showed so much more of who he is by taking up his cross.  So the next time someone says something will give you unlimited happiness, more choices, more freedom, you might think about it for a while.

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