Even today the word startles us like no other. It is the forbidden subject reserved for academic settings or R-rated movies. 

   That is why, thirty years ago, our minister picked "Sex" as his sermon topic & posted it on the church marquee. It worked. The church set a record for attendance that exceeded Easter!

   The idea that our minister would use such a shocking title caused hundreds to lean forward in their pews that Sunday. Some were relieved when Reverend Argow addressed the subject academically. Were others hoping that actors would appear dressed as Adam and Eve? 

   Obviously, sexual intercourse demands privacy. Nudity can also shock us unless it appears in a de-sexualized context – as with your doctor or as art.  But, some people are so frightened of nakedness in any form that one woman complained when I hung the accompanying photograph in my office. Raised a Southern Baptist, the chasm between art that honors the human figure & pornography that degrades it was lost on her.

   Love determines whether any encounter is sacred or profane. 

   Over the weekend Liz Wessel published an essay here called "The entering" & included a poem that describes, "A reverent time/ When we offer ourselves and we connect…we are privileged and somewhat/ In awe; that we are permitted to witness the human spirit at its finest." 

   The subject was hospice caregivers. But true lovers treat sexual "entering" the same way – as "a reverent time." The word sex made us giggle as kids. Mature adults & artists treat the unclothed form with awe & respect rather than with shame & fear. 

   Caregiving routinely requires intimate encounters with patients. Loving caregivers see such encounters as part of their sacred work.    

-Reverend Erie Chapman

Photograph by Erie