One of the compulsory courses is "Sexuality and the Pastoral Encounter." One part was to read various things and respond in writing for discussion. I read the above chapter - certainly provocative.
My response may or may not make sense, perhaps it's of rather narrow appeal. If you like it, thanks; if not, put it down to the hour or so I spent downing a capuccino with an extra shot in Heffer's while reading and then writing.
We all believe in some high god these days:
True atheists are odd and hard to find.
But what name shall we choose to name the one
Who sits in bland approval of the world,
Or else, who drums celestial digits and
In whispered words recruits his terror squad?
Can God be "love"? and if so, be this love
Whose drumbeat calls each wallflower to dance?
Is Christ a flirt? And is the blood he shed
A pheromone that wakes our loins to him
So that (we know not why) we lie with him
Upon that hill, beneath that spreading tree?
I'll tell a story of a tragic fall:
Of Eden lost and lovers under curse;
Of Christ who came to mend the broken way:
"Love one another." Yes, we could, in part.
Full freedom needed ways we all could join
The sacred cult of infertility
I'm sorry, Jo. I think you've traded in
A shining mirror for a muddy pond.
God's love is vaster than our minds can grasp;
Unbreakable - and faithful to the last;
All-powerful - yet tender, chaste and true;
Known partly till Christ comes to claim his bride.
