happily marred

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame (Gen 2:25)

“When the Creator visited His creation to dwell in it bodily, it was not as a star that He came, nor as a lightning bolt, nor as a white whale or a holy book or a spirit only, but as a man… The human body, then, possesses a glory that is unique in all the earth (glory in the ordinary sense of “awe-inspiring beauty, “ but also in the special biblical sense of the “spiritual made visible “), and it is in the peculiar dazzle of nakedness that this glory is most obvious, most tantalizing and revealing” (127).

“Human beings are, after all, the only creatures that can be naked, the only creatures in which this bizarre unveiling can take place. For in everything else, whether animate or inanimate, nakedness is axiomatic (self-evident). Trees may be clothed in their autumn splendor or the sea wear a mantle of light — but only by analogy with human clothing. Mankind alone puts an araficial covering over his body. Everything else stands star/c; staring naked at the sight of God and is not ashamed” (128).

Do you have a different answer?
     • Why is it only man who must put on artificial clothing? (Shame)
     • Why is it he alone that must cover-up when all of creation stands boldly naked before its Maker? (Shame)
     • What is shame?

SHAME:  A painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. 2) A condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute: IGNOMiNY: Deep personal humiliation and regret.

“The implication is clear: it is not primarily that because we get cold or wet that we must cover ourselves up. It was not forty below with blowing snow in Paradise! No, we dress because we sin, and even the finest clothing is like the striped suitfa jailbird, a sign and a reminder that man is an unholy fugitive, in hidingfrom God andfrom his fellows” (129).

Remember our Theme? Sex is a powerful outward symbol of the inner temper of a marital relationship.

With that in mind, “it should be clear that sex must never be depended upon to establish love but can only grow out of it” (139). Friends, you may be laughing your way to a better marriage, or a better sex life; you may think that books, magazines, videos, or even therapy may make things better in the bedroom, and it may for a time, but for change to be lasting you must profoundly change your attitude at the emotional and spiritual level.

Mason states that the sex life DEMANDS a loving gift of the self, the sincere devotion of the whole heart (139).

Application: Sex does not make you love, but it is an expression of it. The quality of your marriage depends upon (with few exceptions) a wholesome and mutually satisfying sex life. Your feelings toward one another will be reflected in your sex life, which is not dependent upon technique, but upon mutual devotion to one another, the sacrificial giving of yourselves both emotionally and spiritually.