Sexual Integrity in the Words of C.S. Lewis | Great Quotes Series #1
Contributed by Andrew Love
Hello High Nooners!
We understand that many of you feel that the fight to build your sexual integrity is a solo battle.
For those of you reading, who are part of our weekly Ascend Program group, it is easy to believe the lies that we tell ourselves: ‘nobody cares if I mess up…’ or ‘it doesn’t make a difference what I do…’
Therefore, I wanted to create for you some mental ammunition to help systematically disprove these ridiculous stories we subscribe to, in regards to our lack of worthiness, which ultimately leads us to isolation.
Remember, there are two distinct forces at play in the universe: one which attempts to divide everything and everyone, and the other that seeks harmonious unification. The media, politics, and most man-made structures have been specifically designed to impede any real, lasting synergy and that is why they are all falling apart before our very eyes.
Sexuality is the most powerful force in the cosmos and it has the potential to either divide or unite — depending on how it is used. To harness this power is to hold the keys to the universe.
Our ‘Great Quotes’ series has been designed to help you recognize the effort God has been making, for thousands of years, to rebuild our world centered on heavenly sexuality. There have been countless champions of heavenly sexuality that invested much time and energy into understanding the truth that was finally brought into light by our True Parents.
We will highlight some of these sexual integrity warriors in order to commemorate their efforts and to remind ourselves that High Noon came on the foundation of their effort.
Everyone who is fighting to build their sexual integrity is a heavenly soldier as it is no small feat, nor is it a simple task!
Keep in mind:
You are at the front lines of building a new heaven and a new earth.
You are helping our Heavenly Parent experience sexual love in a way that has never been possible as you substantiate these sexual principles.
You are creating the foundation for a future where human trafficking, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, etc. are all made irrelevant!
This is the movement you are apart of, and each victory you are able to claim is a victory for everyone!
The inaugural Great Quotes selection is from the illustrious writer C.S. Lewis.
C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century, would have LOVED High Noon because we represent everything he hoped Christianity would have embodied in his time. He wanted Christians to be truthful, to show their faith rather than talk about it, and to exemplify Christ’s love through their daily actions.
When it came to Sexual Integrity, his view on masturbation was as follows:
“For me, the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and even grandchildren) and turns it back: sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides. And this harem, once admitted, works against his ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman. For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attractions which no real woman can rival. Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect lover: no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity. In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself . . . . And it is not only the faculty of love which is thus sterilized, forced back on itself, but also the faculty of imagination.
The true exercise of imagination, in my view, is (a) To help us to understand other people (b) To respond to, and, some of us, to produce, art. But it has also a bad use: to provide for us, in shadowy form, a substitute for virtues, successes, distinctions, etc. which ought to be sought outside in the real world—e.g. picturing all I’d do if I were rich instead of earning and saving.
Masturbation involves this abuse of imagination in erotic matters (which I think bad in itself) and thereby encourages a similar abuse of it in all spheres. After all, almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little, dark prison we are all born in. Masturbation is to be avoided as all things are to be avoided which retard this process. The danger is that of coming to love the prison.”
C.S. Lewis was just one of the many men who grappled difficult topics to offer humanity a pathway into the need for sexual integrity. His words and work, when read and listened to with a keen mind, can be the foundation for a better understanding of what is required of us.
When we invest in our own faith, sexual integrity, and character development, we are able to pass along any progress we make to the world around us. Our personal growth becomes the stepping stone for those who come after us and makes their progress quicker, that is revolutionary!
We are eager to hear from you! Let us know your thoughts and insights after you have reflected on the quotes by commenting below!
Remember, High Noon is always here to call you up to the life you deserve so do not give up!