Let's start with a short story...
In the early Christian church, several bishops were gathered outside a cathedral in Antioch, when a beautiful prostitute passed by on the street. The bishops looked away to avoid being seduced. Bishop Nonnus, however, stared intently at her, and then said to his fellow bishops, “Did not the wonderful beauty of that woman delight you?” The bishops remained silent. Nonnus insisted, “Indeed it delighted me,” but he wept for her.
When the prostitute saw how the bishop looked at her, she was surprised. No one had ever looked at her with such purity. He was not lusting after her, but rather saw something in her that she did not even see in herself. That simple purity of the bishop’s glance marked the beginning of her conversion to Christ. She soon returned to find him, and today, we know this former prostitute as St. Pelagia.
In St. Pelagia’s story, we see that there is power in the way a woman dresses for a man, but there is also great power in the way a man looks at a woman. Bishop Nonnus was not afraid of being forced to lust at the sight of a prostitute. Rather, her body called him to love her properly—he saw a sister in Christ. He possessed “positive purity”.
How about the other bishops? We can say they had “negative purity”. They were right to avoid the occasion of sin, knowing they may fall, but God ultimately wants to transform our hearts so that we aren’t afraid we will lust every time we see an attractive person. This freedom is what chastity enables us to have. When we see ourselves and others not as objects but as persons to love, that is chastity. It is possible, as St. Pelagia proves.
first original experiences
We mentioned last week that Original Sin destroyed the perfect design God created us with. This is why the bishops were afraid to look at the prostitute. Let’s continue to look at that today. You’ve probably heard a lot about Original Sin, but not much about how Adam and Eve were before that. What were they before they disobeyed God? There is really much to learn from them—what Pope John Paul II calls the “Original Man”.
We looked at the story of creation last time and found how God created us and found us to be “very good” (Gn 1:31). Adam had an intimate relationship with God—they talked and listened to each other. They were friends. Then God gave Adam dominion over the animals, allowing them to name him. He was above all other creations. Why? He is a spiritual being—he was created in the image and likeness of God. The Pope calls this the “Original Solitude” and is a start at knowing our identities.
However, God found something wrong with this solitude. God must’ve noticed how Adam got bored with all the animals parading before him for weeks or months for him to name. So he puts Adam to sleep, and when he woke up, Eve was in front of her! He notices she is the same as he is, though there are differences. She is a person! He decides to be with her and they become “one flesh”. His perfection is realized with someone with him. This is what the Pope calls “Original Unity”. Haven’t we experienced this in our lives as well? Read Sirach 6:14-16.
They then get married. At this point, all’s still pure, and Adam experienced sexual desire in a pure way. Adam saw in Eve the call to commune—to love—her and not to use her. Adam and Eve were naked because they were not afraid of the other using or abusing them. They understood each other and looked out for each other in perfect love. Their intimacy was of perfect safety from each other because of its purity.
At this point also, God gave His first command—“Be fruitful and multiply”. Notice that this comes after being “one” and after having no shame. This is how marriage and the relationship between man and woman were designed. It is pure and is the home of sexual relations. This is “Original Nakedness”. Look at how innocent children are carefree even when they are not clothed, and you’ll see a glimpse of this.
Now, what does the three Original Experiences tell us? We were created to have a relationship with God and with other human beings. We were created to be related, because God is a related being—Father loving the Son, the Son loving the Father, and the Love between them so infinite and real, the Holy Spirit—and we are created in the image and likeness of God. Sounds familiar? By looking at the beginning, we see how we’re meant to be. We see how God took care of man, looked after them and communed with them. How come this isn’t the case today?
Original Sin
The serpent came and told them that she’s missing out on something. Satan wanted them to believe that God was holding out on them, that God didn’t want them to be happy. That is the essence of the Original Sin—man turned away from God, not trusting His love. Adam and Eve wanted to be gods because they wanted to decide for themselves even when God loves completely, not to mention the one who created man out of love. Man lost innocence and purity because he has turned away from God’s perfect design. Original Sin can be called “Original Wound”. It is this wound that we inherited and is the reason why we are not seeing what we discussed so far.
Remember the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? Try to recall the part when Gollum was arguing with Smeagol about Frodo’s concern for him. That’s what happened during the “fall” when man started to doubt God’s love for us.
In the same way that Smeagol went downhill, we went down as well. We lost trust in God and lost Original Solitude. Adam distrusted Eve for asking him to eat the fruit, and Eve distrusted Adam for not being there for him. We lost Original Unity. We stopped looking out for each other and thus lost Original Nakedness. It all began because we didn’t trust God.
Next in this series...
So man screwed up God’s awesome original plan. How do we fix it? Where can we find freedom and love after this?
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