So this past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to a Christopher West seminar with the campus Newman Center here at UE on Pope Jean-Paul II's Theology of the Body.
Theology of the Body is really hard to put into simple terms because it encompases so many different Christian teachings and tries to further explain and, in a sense, re-evaluatem them. The theology is mostly focused on explaining "how the Christian sexual ethic corresponds perfectly with our deepest yearnings of our hearts for love and union." (Christopher West, http://www.christopherwest.com/). The theory really attempts to reverse the negative connotations that our modern Western world has about sex.
Anyway, the talk was really very interesting and it helped me learn a lot more about my religion. However, there are still some things that I don't totally agree with, and there are, of course, many things about the whole theology that I don't understand. The theology is just so vast, that it's nearly impossible to fully comprehend it--just like with any theology, really. I mean, Christopher West has been studying the Theology of the Body for 15 years, and he's still finding things that he never understood before!
Really, the biggest issue I had with the whole theology was the deal about contraception. I'm not saying that someone should take contraceptions lightly or anything like that, but there are people out there who might medically need to be on contraceptives. If a person has thin blood, for example, but heavy periods, would you really want them passing out all the time due to blood loss? Wouldn't the Pill be an acceptable answer? And if a family really cannot financially, emotionally, etc support a child, wouldn't the Pill be an okay answer instead of the woman having to take their temperature everyday and check their fluids everyday so that they know which week to avoid having sex? How acurate is that going to be? Honestly, I'm all for people having kids, I just think that the world would be better off if the kids came into famillies that could support them, instead of having over-run orphanages and children suffering from the foster care system, which really isn't all that great of a system.
Anyway, if you want to find out more about the Theology of the Body, which I suggest you do because it's worth taking a look at, even if there are some thigns you don't agree with, then Google it, or head to Christopher West's homepage: http://www.christopherwest.com/ or http://www.theologyofthebody.net/.
So lately I have been struggling with my religious path (liberal Catholicism). I guess you could say that I havent felt the same religious "high" that I had while at UE. Maybe it's the fact that the church I used to go to has undergone many changes since the Paulist Fathers left, or mybe it's because I didn't have a regular group to attend any more, or maybe I just no longer fit in as well, the same way I don't quite fit in to Boulder any longer. Who really knows? No matter the reasons why, I'm struggling a bit with my faith.
I guess one analogy that could work to describe my situation in a completely unsatisfactory manner, is riding a bike up a rather rocky hill. Only it's a hill that you can't see the top of and therefore you feel as though you're getting nowhere.
This very bad analogy came to me while I was walking the half-hour hill from my dog-sitting job back home this morning. Along this uphill walk of mine, I pass by a Methodist church along Gillaspe. Along with various signs advertising a Korean service (in Korean, of course), was the English sign with a little saying on it:
I almost cried! Of course, it didn't exactly help my mind from trying to battle out the struggle, but it did help me to take a step back and stop worrying about it so much. It also made me think of a tandem bicycle, which I have to give msot of the credit to Father Kevin for that one!
So I guess I'm going to try and let loose a little more and trust that I'll end up where I'm supposed to be. (And boy do I sound like a Boulderite).
Labels: catholicism, faith, reglious struggles, religion