This past Saturday one of my best friends got married. As we prepped for the wedding months ago the
bride asked my friend and I if we would decorate the honeymoon suite for her
& her husband to be. Through giggles,
two inexperienced girls thought about how to best prep the room for the first
night of marriage. My friend, Butterfly,
and I spent a few days coming up with ideas and we decided on candles, rose
petals, champagne and snacks. On the day
of the wedding Butterfly and I found sometime to sneak into the room and romantically
decorate it. Though we had to rush and
only had a period of fifteen minutes to carefully place mementos throughout the
room the finished product turned out simple yet extremely personal. In the Catholic faith, we wait on sex until
marriage;thus, we really wanted the room to be festive and a symbol of faithful purity. I am not going to lie it’s hard to wait
sometimes the hormones feel so strong that abstinence feels impossible
especially when you are in a loving relationship with someone you are extremely
attracted to. Thus, am extremely proud of
my friends who waited even after many years of courtship they are great
examples of Catholics at their best.
The truth of the Spirit of Christ according to St. Paul is one
of self-restraint- a Christian life is supposed to be fulfilling not necessarily
fun. Which means that there is no
supernatural consolation for those of us who don’t get to have sex with whoever
we want whenever we want- and there’s no “I am better than thou” because I have
the discipline to wait. It’s a matter of
mature love and respect. Love at its finest
wants the best for the beloved and sacrifices it all (even one’s own life - as
Jesus did). Thus, when Christians think
about sex they think about it as more than biological desires and as a supreme
gift from God. A gift so awesome that it
needs to be protected and saved for the marriage bed. It’s a matter of quality over quantity. It’s meant to be great because it’s an act of
pure love that brings life.
In my years, walking by faith I have come to value sex more and
to really understand what God intended when he gave us such a magnificent
gift. A few years ago as my first
friends started getting engaged and they proudly showed off their rings – I started
to desire a special ring myself. When I
saw my friends in their beautiful, white wedding dress I too wanted to wear one
someday too. Those symbols are unique and people celebrate and make such a big
deal about them because they are saved for a really exceptional occasion. They are material objects – yet society still
places quite a strong, traditional value to both engagement rings and puffy
dresses because they represent a bigger truth: the union of two people. To Christians sex is the BIGGEST testimony of
the union of two. Thus, as society waits
for the proper time for an engagement ring or wedding dress - Christians too wait
for sex not only for the perfect mate, but for God’s blessing too (smile).
The Honeymoon Suite Decorators
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