Theology of the Body — 2011/11/30

"The nude body has always been — and always will be — a favorite subject for artists from painters to poets. In Scripture, the nude body is as central subject of the Song of Songs. For Christians, if there is any question whether the naked body is a fit subject for art, the Song of Songs should put it to rest.

"So the question is not whether the body should be described, but how. In the plastic arts … the artist doesn't simply reproduce the model. He expresses his artistic idea about the subject. This gives form to his interior values. In order to give creative justice to the full truth of the body, the artist should be aware of that truth. In other words, an artist should be pure of heart.

"… Through the nude form, [great art] leads the viewer to glimpse the human spirit. Contemplating the human body in art, we are invited to ponder the dignity and beauty of man, in the full truth of masculinity and femininity.

"When the nude body is depicted with dignity … the viewer isn't drawn to 'look lustfully.' Instead, the nuptial meaning of the body is revealed in a way that inspires awe for its God-given glory.

"There are also artistic representations of the body … that offend human dignity. This is not the fault of the … body … but of the way in which it is depicted. To reduce the body to an object for the enjoyment of lust denigrates its true value.

"Artistic morality involves not just the artist but … the viewer, reader, or listener. Just as the responsible artist seeks to portray the human person in the fullness of truth, the responsible recipient strives to appreciate the nuptial meaning of the body depicted in the work. He is … an active seeker of the truth.

" …

"We should always live in a way that affirms the dignity of the body. This applies to all areas of life — personal, social, and cultural. The affirmation of the body is essential for fostering a healthy culture, one that leads the heart toward goodness, beauty, and truth."


This brings us to the end of the second part of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body in Simple Language. I began this series of excerpts in March 2010 with the last chapter of Part I., "Body and Gift." From then on, I have been giving excerpts from Part II., "Purity of Heart" because I thought it would be more interesting to see the meaning of the theology for daily life. Now, rather that continuing on to Part III., "Heaven and Earth," I think it would be better to go back to the beginning of the book which gives the premises for what has appeared in Part II.


So my next post in this series will take us back to "The Beginning," which is the title of the first chapter. Meanwhile, if you want to review Part II., you can see all previous posts by clicking on the label "Theology of the Body."

Doings

I know I'm way overdue to post some more Theology of the Body, but a report on Thanksgiving seems a bit more time-sensitive.

In a way, it was the end of an era: the first Thanksgiving since I was born when Thanksgiving dinner did not take place in Naturgesetz family property (grandparent's, parent's, uncle's, family vacation home, or my own). I might have missed one or two when I was in grad school or the monastery, but they've always taken place. This year, however, some friendly acquaintances invited my brother and me to join them and three (it turned out) others at their home, and we accepted.

Since we would also be attending an open house on Saturday evening and my brother would go back to Boston this morning (Monday), I decided it would be pointless to roast even the smallest turkey I could find. We would get at most two meals from it, and then I'd be left with a ton of leftovers. So we had baked stuffed haddock on Friday and broiled flank steak on Sunday. The only special cooking I did for the holiday was a frozen mince pie from the store. It's my brother's favorite kind, and he had it with cheddar cheese for desserts and breakfasts, and finished it off last night. I had a small slice for breakfast on Friday morning. I also had bought a frozen pumpkin pie for myself, but when the time came, I decided that with two main meals away from the house, I couldn't handle it right now, so it will stay in the freezer until Christmas.

Thanksgiving itself was very pleasant. The hosts are a man, originally from Texas and wife, originally from here, who are about my age. One guest was a Baptist missionary from Texas, now living in Ohio — about our age. Another was a thirtysomething man from Argentina, and the last was another thritysomething from around here. We talked mostly about languages (apparently Spanish favors long sentences like those from Melville I heard at Moby Dick a couple of weeks ago), but also about music, the lady's missionary work in Romania, and various other things. The meal was fairly traditional for New England, except for the green beans, the addition of pineapple to the sweet potato, and the pecan pie. It was, however, the first time I ever had meat stuffing in a turkey. It was ground beef and pork, with bread to keep it from getting hard, and sausage type spices. It was nearly black and very enjoyable. I had brought two bottles of red wine and two of white, and they were emptied or very nearly so. The pies were accompanied with vanilla ice cream.

Between the main course and dessert we were required by the hosts to take a walk. Fortunately it was warm enough that with coats we were comfortable walking around for the better part of an hour in the late afternoon. After dessert, the host and I stepped outside again to enjoy a cigar. He smokes maybe a half dozen or so per year, and I have one or two.

You can go to my music blog the learn about my afternoon at the symphony on Friday.

So, all in all, it was a good holiday and a good weekend.

Moped (The Vehicle, Not the Past Tense of "Mope")

Sometime in the mid 1970's I bought a moped. I used it in good weather to go to evening selectmen's meetings with my attache case on the carrier and for errands on the weekends. I'd wear my straw hat in the summer and my felt hat other times. And as I rode around the theme from the third movement, Rondo Alla Polacca, of Weber's Horn Concertino  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmbyBHGLfv8  (the theme I'm talking about begins at 4:02)* would be in my mind — I just felt that happy. Sometimes I'd even try to sing it.

Then in the mid 80's Massachusetts required moped riders to wear helmets, and I stopped using it because I didn't want to wear a helmet instead of my hat. The moped sat in my garage. At one point my cousin wanted it, but I kept it, thinking that sometime I might want to use it. A couple of years ago, the guy who blows the water out of my lawn sprinkler system noticed it and asked if he could have it, and again I refused. But that got me thinking about using it again. I found that it would not start, but I thought that "sometime" I'd take it to the shop where I take my car for repairs and they could get it operational again.

Today he came again for the pre-winter system blowout and again he asked about the moped, suggesting that I'd never use it, but he'd like to have it for his nearly 6 year old son. He wouldn't use it on the roads but in an area near his home. The guy said he builds motorcycles, so he'd be able to repair it and get it into pristine condition. I knew he was probably right that I'd never use it, but I was still reluctant to let it go. Finally I said, "Okay." He was actually surprised that I agreed, but the idea that it would be put to good use by a child (somehow letting it be a toy for an adult didn't have the same appeal) after being idle for about 15 years ultimately convinced me. So he loaded it on the back of his company truck and took it away.

I wonder if what I've been hearing in church all these years — about loving neighbor as oneself, golden rule, what you do for others you do for Jesus, and not being attached to earthly goods — is finally beginning to sink in and take hold. Well, it had cost me about $600 and I used it for 8 or more years, so I had gotten pretty my money's worth, and it would have cost something to get it operable again, so in monetary terms, it wasn't much to give up. But now I know for certain that I'll never ride around on it again with the Weber Horn Concertino running through my mind.

I hope that he kid will be as happy riding it as I was, even if he never thinks of the concertino.


*There's also a spectacular bit of playing two notes at a time just before the Rondo theme. It begins at about 3:14. And if you really like it, you might also want to check out the first part of the piece or performances by Hermann Baumann and Barry Tuckwell.

Another Pleasant Evening ~or~ They Won't Let Me Come Out

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to have dinner with a couple of college classmates (former Bananas) and their respective wives. We spent a pleasant three hours plus at a restaurant in the town where my grandfather lived when I was a pre-teenager. The guy who I met for lunch ("Dan") a couple of months ago is the one who arranged this get together, and he chose the location because it would be convenient for the other couple. It's about an hour's drive from my home, and he was surprised to learn that I knew my way to the town, since we had come there frequently when my grandfather lived there.

Anyway, it was a nice restaurant and we talked a lot about families (the second guy's ("John") "immediate family" — children, spouses, grandchildren — numbers about 24), classmates, and our doings. John's wfe's brother is a missionary priest, and there was a lot to tell about that. John and his wife spend three months a year in Florida. Dan is slowly retiring from work as a public defender. Dan and his wife had considered going the the one-man "Moby Dick" I had attended, and I told them it it was quite good, and "Angel Reapers" — a play with dancing or a dance performance with words, about the Shakers — was good too. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to mention that I had been very moved by "The Laramie Project" a year earlier. Dan got me to tell about my trip to Ireland last year, including the accidents. At one point someone asked if anything else interesting happened, and I was debating whether to tell about the lad in Claremorris who admired my hat and wanted it and said he'd suck me off for it. It might somehow broach the topic of homosexuality, but it was questionable for mixed company. I hesitated too long, and someone began another topic. At another point, I was ready to start talking about my blog, but as I drew a breath someone had something else to talk about.

So, it felt almost as if they were — unconsciously — preventing me from steering the conversation toward the topic of my orientation. Even at one point, John said something that might have led to talking about homosexuality, but it didn't go that way. Maybe God doesn't want me to tell them. LOL Well, Dan picked up the check, so now I've got to invite them to dinner (and John owes us, too — or at least he owes Dan). So there should be another chance before too many years go by.

Twenty years ago, probably ten years ago, I never would have considered coming out to them. But now I feel safe about it (but not safe enough to avoid the momentary hesitations which let the occasions pass) and somehow I want them to know, for it to be not just something they can figure out for themselves but an acknowledged fact. I think seeing how attitudes in society have changed has helped change my feelings about it as has my experience in blogging — both reading what others say and writing openly about myself. I'm not afraid that they will reject me.

But out or not, this is an example of the sort of friendly interaction a celibate gay guy can have. And it may well be that if I had not been so shy, I could have enjoyed a lot more interaction with these people over the years, but I allowed our get togethers to become very sporadic. So my advice is that shy guys cultivate friendships, especially with straight people. It can be relaxing to be in a situation where there is no sexual undercurrent; and for someone who is celibate it's good to have some real friends.

Epilogue: As we were leaving the restaurant, I tried to tell Dan quietly about the lad in Claremorris and his offer for my hat, but John's wife was close enough to hear and was paying attention. So when John asked what the story was, Dan said his wife could tell him.

Retreat — March 2011 — No. 7: Results

Note: My previous posts on this topic can be easily accessed by clicking on the label "retreat" at the bottom of this post.


The "health scare" I mentioned in my previous post about the retreat interrupted the daily routine I had established. So there was no smooth carryover into my home life. Clearly, I would have had to adapt things because I'd need to shop, prepare meals, and engage in all the other things that are part of my everyday life, while making room for more time in prayer. But in reality, in the weeks immediately after my return from the retreat, there was no perceptible difference from how I had been doing before I went on the retreat. Gradually, however, there have been changes.

One thing that was very important, I think, was to create a prayer room in the tiny sewing room upstairs. This was made possible when my nephew took the futon which he had used on visits before the front bedroom became available. I brought in prayer books, a Bible, and some other books for spiritual reading. With that, I have begun to do some Bible reading after I finish my morning prayer. I am reading the book of Isaiah. When I do my evening prayer at a reasonable hour, I follow it with some spiritual reading. Right now I'm slowly going through Henri Nouwen's Can You Drink the Cup? I'd like to do more — read Pope Benedict's two volume Jesus of Nazareth, spend more time reflecting prayerfully on the things I'm already reading, follow the formats from retreat for "behold" and "Bringing Feelings to Prayer." But wile there is still progress to be made, I know that I have made progress, and I hope to continue to do so.

The other area that both my retreat director and my regular spiritual director have encouraged me to work on is what might be called my social life. If these seems a bit unrelated to spirituality, love of others, which is one of the basic commandments, normally is practiced through contact with them. Here again, there has perhaps been less progress then one could have dreamed of, but there has been progress. There have been my night at the opera, pleasant day, and pleasant evening with Zack. When he had to come to this area for his friend's memorial service, I had the nerve to invite him to stay overnight with me, which I might not have quite dared to — "What will the neighbors think?" — without the encouragement I had received. There is also a reconnection with my college classmates, which began with a lunch with one of them and will continue on Friday with dinner with him and another and their wives. I've taken a couple of little steps toward developing a friendship with a member of the yacht club Race Committee who seems to like my company. And finally, I've reconnected with a priest who used to be in my parish. We really hit it off when he was here, and we'd go to dinner every month for a couple of years after he was assigned to another parish. Eventually the dinners petered out, but I called last week, and we'll be getting together in December. I'll try to remember to ask if he likes opera. I've started going to the theater broadcasts of the Metropolitan opera since we were in regular contact, and they could furnish a good occasion for getting together (except he's not always free on Saturday afternoons or Wednesday evenings). At this point I'm not out to any of these guys except Zack, but I'd like to be out to at least the priest and the classmates. OTOH, I'm not ready just to draw a deep breathe and say, "Guess what? I'm homosexual." It's more a matter of trying to steer the conversation to a point where it becomes the question they ask or the logical next thing for me to say.

So, unlike my first retreat, which ultimately didn't seem to have any permanent effect, the one last March seems to have set me in a good direction both for prayer and for developing personal relationships.

Keeping Busy

Last week saw me with multiple events drawing me away from my computer and out of the house. There was an opera (Verdi's "Macbeth") on Sunday afternoon; a talk on scripture Monday evening; a one-man performance of Moby Dick on Tuesday; a church-related meeting on Wednesday; and concerts Thursday and Friday. All were in Boston except the ones on Monday and Wednesday.

The opera was pretty good. I mean, it's a fine opera, and it was adequately staged and performed. The talk on Monday was great. You wouldn't think that Moby Dick could be made into a one-man show lasting under two hours. But it was, and it was done very well. The actor and a fiddler, who played at the beginning, middle, and end, and a little bit to accompany the speech at a couple of points, as well as the director, are from Ireland. As one reviewer noted, there are points at which Ishmael notes that the crew could have stopped the voyage; they had a right to refuse to go along with the pursuit of the whale; but they all acquiesced. The concerts were good, but not spectacular. See my music blog for more about the one on Thursday. On Friday, I felt pretty tired and left at intermission.

I've been looking forward to a less strenuous week next week. I'll be at home on Sunday, except to go to church. Monday another talk on scripture here in my home town. Tuesday a church meeting, also here in town. Wednesday could be free or could be a show in Boston. I have a ticket to the show on Friday, but now I have dinner plans for Friday, so I'll see if I can exchange the theater ticket for the Wednesday performance. Thursday afternoon a church-related meeting about an hour's drive from here; Thursday evening another symphony concert. On Friday evening, I'll join two college classmates and their wives for dinner (location TBA, but probably not very near to home.)

So it turns out that there is about as much on the calendar for next week as there was for this. Maybe that's a good thing.

One disappointment was that I had planned to go to the Scottish restaurant and have my first haggis before the concert on Thursday. But I took a nap and overslept and didn't have enough time to get to the restaurant and dine before the concert. So haggis has been postponed to December 1. Too bad I can't do it on St. Andrew's Day (November 30) instead. Hmmm, maybe I can, after all. I'll have to think about it.

Theology of the Body — 2011/11/08

"When the gift-giving meaning of the body is obscured, distorted, or misrepresented,art becomes a lie. This is what happens in pornography. The body … is depersonalized and turned into an object for lust.

"…. The so-called naturalists demand the right to reproduce 'everything that is human.' What others call pornography, they defend as a realistic depictionof humanity.

"But in the end, it is precisely this — the whole truth about man — that is lost when ; the body is reduced to an object for lust. In order to speak about true realism in art, the full truth about man as created in the image of God must be considered.

"… [T]he principles principles governing interpersonal relations still apply within the realm of art. The naked human body has a 'language.' It expresses the spirit. When given in trust and love, the body is the basis of a communion of persons. Because the naked human body has such importance, it must be depicted with great care to preserve its meaning in art.

"Only within certain boundaries can the truth about the body be preserved. In film, photography, and mass media, there is a dangerous tendency to separate the body from the person. Reproduced on paper or on screen, the naked body can cease to communicate the person. It often becomes, instead, an anonymous object.

"Because the glory and beauty of the human body is at stake, we cannot remain indifferent to culture. We do not oppose pornography out of a narrow, puritanical idea of morality. Nor do we oppose it out of a Manichaean fear or hatred of the body, as is often asserted. The exact opposite is true. We oppose pornography out of respect for the dignity of the body."

All Souls Day, November 2, 2011

As the Catholic Church prays for all the dead I refer you to a couple of posts I made in 2009, with a beautiful song praying that all, especially those who died untimely deaths, may rest in peace.

The first one has a man singing it.
http://naturgesetz-takecourage.blogspot.com/search/label/All%20Souls

The other has a woman.
http://naturgesetz-music.blogspot.com/2009/11/litanei-franz-schubert.html

May all rest in peace with God.

Theology of the Body — 2011/11/02

"The naked human body, in its full masculinity and femininity, has the meaning of a gift from person to person. This is the basis of all ethical guidelines regarding nakedness. The dignity of the person must always be upheld.

"In the husband/wife relationship, the nude body achieves the nuptial meaning through the sincere gift of self. But in art, the nude body takes on a different meaning. First, it becomes a model for the artist; then, once the art is complete, the body becomes a subject for the viewer.

"To an extent, objectifying the body is necessary in art. This raises a number fo problems, which multiply as the motives of artists and viewers are brought into question. These problems do not mean that the nude human body is an inappropriate subject for art — only that this is a complicated moral issue, not simply a matter of artistic taste.

"When sin entered the world, there arose, along with shame, a need for bodily privacy — especially between the sexes. Among sinful human beings, sexual privacy shields the gift from the gaze of lust. We don't just wear clothing to protect ourselves from the weather, but to guard our dignity. …

When the boundary of shame is crossed, nakedness becomes an insult. In the Nazi concentration camps, forced nakedness was used to depersonalize victims and strip them of their dignity. An analogous assault on the person occurs in pornography.

"In art, as in life, the right to privacy must be respected in order to preserve the gift-giving meaning of the body."


Comment: Here the focus is on artistic depictions of the human body. I'm wondering, though, about the implications of what he says about the basic meaning of the body and the naked body, for non-sexual nudity among persons who are not husband and wife. For example, what if children had been born before the Fall. Nudity would not have signified a gift of self between parents and children nor among siblings like that which exists between husband and wife. It seems to me that the phrase, "especially among the sexes," suggests that in situations where lust is neither intended nor experienced, nudity can be permissible.