November 3, 2007 7:42 AM
Sexual fidelity - its meaning and purpose
What a breath of fresh air!
"Sex is not a private matter, though it is certainly personal. Sexual intercourse is the ultimate creaturely gesture of promise. If we behave as if sexual intercourse is something less than a mutual promise of man and woman to be completely and wholly present to one another, and not just for the fleeting moment but always, society is left with no gesture of final commitment as the foundation for all other commitments. Community requires promise and abiding commitment, faithfulness and fidelity, or it does not endure. Ideally, we learn and practice these virtues and habits of being through courtship and within marriage. This is a wisdom all humankind knows."
Vigen Guroian, Loyola College professor of theology and ethics as quoted in Plugged In, a favorite magazine in our family for keeping up-to-date on music, movies, TV and trends appealing to teens - and also offering encouragement and wisdom to rethink what our culture pushes. [PluggedIn Online is a great resource for free movie reviews from a Christian perspective.]]
Guroian is author of some very interesting-looking books which I have now placed on my wish-list:
Rallying The Really Human Things: Moral Imagination In Politics, Literature, and Everyday Life
and Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination
[btw, the latter book looks great, so ignore the snarky comments of Publishers Weekly based on the fact Guroian has the temerity to guide parents through children's literature even though he is a conservative Christian - oh, the horror! - and therefore not worthy of having an opinion.
I've been meaning to write about this for some time. When I look at books at Amazon, I put a lot more stock in customer comments than I do in the reviews of the supposed Great Minds who get paid to tell us what we should read - all based on their own biases.
And more btw: Another great book on the deeper meaning of classic literature - Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment - which I'll write some more about next week - why fairy tales are important and why it's okay for kids to be scared sometimes.]
Posted in Marriage | Permalink
Comments
I know you are a Montessori teacher, and Dr. Montessori was adamant that young children should not be exposed to fantasy. One mother who also does Montessori at home was horrified when she heard I was reading the Wizard of Oz series to my kids. What do you think? Does fantasy have a place for young children, or is being a Montessori purist more helpful to development?
What do you do in your family?
Posted by: Milehimama | November 3, 2007 10:33 AM
Like you, I use the comments left by the public on Amazon to guide my selections far more than I'm influenced by the reviewers comments. It's funny to me, though, that sometimes when the reviewers, and even a few commenters, really bash a book, their "negative" comments give me just the information I need to know that this really is a book I want to read. (It's all very similar to the radio ads Jerry Brown ran here in CA for his, successful, bid for Attorney General. His ad bashed his opponent but contained all the information that we conservative voters needed to decide for his opponent.)
Posted by: Cheryl (Copper's Wife) | November 3, 2007 2:03 PM
Yay! I'm so glad you'll be talking about that book. I've not gotten all the way through it, but I appreciate his thoughts so far.
And don't we all admire the intelligence of those who think as we do? ;o)
Posted by: Amy Jane (Untangling Tales) | November 3, 2007 5:31 PM
Milehimama, I don't know what Barbara's opinion would be, but Wizard of Oz was written as satire, like Gulliver's Travels. Your children might really enjoy the story. However, there is so much about William Jennings Bryan, the backing of the dollar, etc. in it. It would be great to revisit this series after they have studied the politics and history of the 1920s. I think that it would take on a whole new meaning then - most assuredly not in a fantastical way! I think after the background info, they would see it as a recent classic!
Posted by: Sara | November 3, 2007 10:17 PM
