A divinely sexy cord of three strands
The following is an excerpt from my upcoming devotional titled Sex With God.
A threefold cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12b DRA)
Contemplative Christianity offers the idea that there is a kind of knowing which goes beyond words, thought, and reason. This type of knowing comes from union with the divine Other. It is experiential and rests in a space separate from intellectual knowledge.
Knowing in this manner is mirrored by physical intimacy with a human beloved, which can create connection that goes deeper than conversation. But you can take the intimacy of lovemaking to an even deeper level by inviting a third partner in.
The partner, of course, is God themself.
What might it be like to recite prayers responsively while in the preliminary steps of lovemaking, to raise your awareness of God’s immanence? How might this change the encounter which follows? How might it heighten your attention to the one you love, and to God, and to your own pleasure?
The concept may feel awkward initially, because we’ve been trained by purity culture and centuries of mistrust of our bodies and our desires. But if you spend a few minutes thinking about it, you’ll realize how much sense it makes. God wants to be part of all we do. God is already a part of all we do; we just don’t like to think about having a witness to some of those actions. So God is already there when we are naked with our beloved. God is within you, and within them, and between you both.
Be brave. Enter into that presence. You and your partner have the power to transform sex into worship of God and with God.
A cord of three is not easily broken.
A sacrament is physical, and within it is God’s love; as a sandwich is physical, and nutritious and pleasurable, and within it is love, if someone makes it for you and gives it to you with love; even harried or tired or impatient love, but with love’s direction and concern, love’s again and again wavering and distorted focus on goodness; then God’s love too is in the sandwich. Andre Dubus II
