Here's Where I AGREE with the Pope

Today's post was not sparked by any particular news about Pope Francis, but it is about three things in Catholicism that matter a great deal to me—faith, intelligence, and purity.

Far too many people think only in dualistic terms. If one believes in evolution, than, according to these terms, one cannot believe in G-d. No matter how much I try to explain this to people, they are fazed and confused. Yet, this is an area in which the Catholic Church has grown tremendously. Instead of throwing people who note what is going on scientifically into jails and turning them on racks, the Church tells us that evolution is real and so is G-d. I've never read any explanation for how this can be but I've always thought that evolution was simply how G-d was expressing Divinity. When we see all the amazing things that science shows us, it seems quite clear that all of this could not be an accident. There had to be a Divine Spark that let it all loose to happen. So. . . .

Faith? What is that about? It's believing in things even when they are not necessarily evident. I've always believed that, when you pay it forward, the universe pays you back—and it's always been the case in my life. I've always believed that, when you pray, you get an answer. It may not be the answer you were looking for—no you did not win the Lotto—but it is the answer that G-d needs you to have. I remember feeling very low when someone I love had a third failed IVF attempt. I was mad at G-d. Then I talked to my dear one, and she said to me: "G-d has another plan. Eventually, it will all work out." I was stunned at her great faith against all these terrible odds that she was facing. Well, you know what? The doctors gave her a fourth attempt and it worked! She got her child. Now, THAT's a miracle, and it was given because she had faith.

Intelligence? Intelligence does not necessarily deny faith. Intelligence looks at all the mysteries of life and while examining them closely, still retains a sense of wonder. Intelligence knows that there are indeed "more things in heaven and earth, then dreamt of in your philosophy." Intelligence does not reject the paranormal out of hand. I've had far too many paranormal experiences to ever doubt it. And none of them ever prevented me from living life in a very practical and down-to-earth fashion.

Purity? That's a weird word. Almost nobody uses that word these days. It conjures up images of fundamentalists reading the Bible literally and demanding that everybody else do the same. But that's not my definition of purity. For me, purity simply means being absolutely true to oneself. It means being sincere and always attempting to turn toward the good and away from the bad (no matter how glamorous it may seem). It means honesty. Not the kind of nasty frankness that tells a person that she looks like a bathtub wrapped in gauze, even if she does. It's the kind of honesty that says rather, "I think that green is a lovely color for you." And most of all, it means that when you make a vow—whether it be in G-d's house or not—you KEEP IT! To me, the marriage bond is sacred. It's not just a physical and practical joining of two (or more) lives. It's a spiritual merging of souls. To violate that by seeking out thrills and being unfaithful is a sin against purity. If people in a marriage AGREE to have an open marriage, that is their business, and I don't aim to legislate it. But I can't stand it when people marry and then get bored and go rutting around. 

Rutting around. We live in a sex-obsessed society. Everything is sex, sex, sex 24/7. It's thrown at us from all the media—movies, books, art, you name it. Even the books I read in high school were full of illicit affairs. Even on the news, we see women's cleavages and legs. Why sex is so compelling is beyond me. What sex is is FUN. It's just a natural expression of being a human being. It feels nice. It's a great way to get high without drugs. But that's IT! It's no more than that. So why are people rutting around like cats in heat after it? Just how much of it do we need? After seeing so much of it shoved down my throat, sometimes the very idea of it makes me want to vomit. And that's a shame because it's not supposed to be that way. Sex should be a natural and good thing and it belongs between people when it has no potential to cause harm to anyone else. It doesn't belong in dirty books and magazines and movies. It doesn't belong on cell phones and facebook pages.

I'm sorry. I've been married more than 30 years, and any sexy dreams nonwithstanding, I have absolutely NO desire to break up a wonderful marriage with a wonderful man just for a thrill for a few minutes.

I'm fond of quoting Bob Dylan and Martin Luther King, Jr. Their words were always inspiring. I identify with the art and persona of Dylan. But when it comes to their sex lives—it's disgusting. I'm sticking with the Catholic Church on this (even though I married in a Unitarian church): My vows were made on an altar of G-d and I will not break them unless I am forced to (I believe in divorce). So far, so good. No reason to even imagine it.

Why are people so fascinated with Wills, Kate, and George? I think because it's about purity. Their love withstood a number of tests PRIOR to their marriage and now they have brought new life into being. We love their story because it is so very romantic. She had his picture on the wall and then she found him and married him. We love it because their eyes are not roaming around. They are looking at each other and at their newborn son. I never had any children, but I know that Kate and Wills have their priorities in order. We could do well to imitate them—decent people who are not cats in heat.

I think the Pope would agree with me on all counts here. That much Catholicism stuck with me—Faith, Intelligence, and Purity. Let's let Pope Francis guide us here. He is very much filled with faith. He is very intelligent. And he is very pure.