This semester, one of my classes is called "Sex Gender, and Christian Ethics" and so I'm reading up on JPII's (Pope John Paul II) Theology of the Body specifically looking at premarital sex and the reason it has been deemed immoral by the Catholic Church--and Christianity in general as far as I know. The first time I was exposed to the Theology of the Body was during some summer youth group meetings 3 1/2 years ago and I remember being in awe of the depth to which this made sense.
The thing that stuck with me the most through the years was the concept of humans being called to be "naked without shame" just as Adam and Eve wandered the garden of Eden. Genesis 2: 25 tells us that "the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame" before sin entered the world. This is how we were supposed to be--naked without shame.
Now, this is what i've been learning with JPII's brilliance:
Personally, I think you should be able to read my notes since I so graciously photographed them for you, but because I sympathize with those who have imperfect eyesight, I'll tell you what it says and do a little explaining...
Here's the deal, like I said before, Adam and Eve were chillin in the garden in their respective birthday suits and totally fine with it. They were relaxed living in the freedom on the gift (aka their human sexuality). Just six verses later, sin enters the world--with sin comes injustice, death, shame, and fear. In the next verse they realize they are naked and a few verses later when God calls to Adam, Adam hides and says something to the effect of "I was afraid so I hid." Here, we see that Adam no longer felt so carefree in his nakedness. Instead, he felt shame and so he was afraid. Without shame, there was freedom...with shame comes fear.
A very wise lady has grilled it into my head that FEAR IS NOT OF THE LORD. (This is the same person who who thinks I have an alone complex as I mentioned in my post "Everything Glorious" a few days ago) Anyway, If shame is akin to fear and fear is not of the Lord, then by the transitive property, shame is not of the Lord.
When shame came into the picture along with sin, we lost our intended freedom to the power of fear. Here's the deal, humans were gifted free will at the time of creation--that's what makes us totally different than any other species, but something about this freedom was lost at the fall. Yes, we still have free will but it looks very different now than God had originally intended.
When Adam and Eve chose to sin, the human relationship with God was shattered. They essentially said "no" to God--"No, I can do this better"--something each of us probably says multiple times a day. Therefore, "the real origin of man's fear is his 'closing his heart' to God's gift" JPII says. Sin is a rejection of God's love.
So, my friends, we were intended to be naked without shame. This expression of total vulnerability is no longer shame-free. To strip someone naked, is the ultimate way to disgrace them.
Nakedness is a very physical thing, but it can be applied to other aspects of life as well. For example, through gossip, we strip another person of their privacy and a piece of their self-worth. And sarcasm, does the same. In an effort to build ourselves up so we do not feel shame, we tear other people down in such a way they are engulfed by shame. Unfortunately, shame has the uncanny ability to permeate every aspect of life.
I watched a movie a week or so ago that had this great line "I will not do anything to shame myself, my family, or the team." I think that's a great mindset to have--especially if you count your family as the body of Christ.
Just sayin'
xoxoxox Emily
P.S. this is much longer than I had anticipated.
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