The scourge

Most people that know me understand my deep feelings regarding our culture and electronics.  I understand that they are helpful tools for communication and spreading the Gospel (and I'm known to love a well-timed meme myself), but they also have a dark side.

A very dark side.

Like all things created, they can be used for great good.  I love to communicate with my children while we are miles apart.  I enjoy reading a vast variety of good food for my soul and the ability to type a few words formed from a hazy idea into concrete black and white is nothing short of an amazement to the wonders of the mind.  

Yet

Like all things created, the Devil uses it for his advancement, namely, stealing souls from the glory of Heaven simply out of his eternal banishment and pride:  Non Serviam.  He hates all that is good and will do everything to make you hate it too; except since he cannot create, he must only use the good that God already has which is why it is difficult to distinguish the distortion at first; after all, love and pleasure come from the One who Loves us.  We must be much more alert than the frog beginning to boil. 

The other day there was a fantastic article regarding the current sexual perversion in the Hollywood hills and media stations, linking it to the cultures porn addiction.  There is nothing new under the sun  and humanity has been down this road before with one exception:  Mass media and the ready prevalence of X rated products at the touch of a finger.  The inanimate device makes no distinction of the finger that touches it, namely, your child, youth, son, daughter, could be instantly robbed of their dignified innocence at the flash of a screen.  

                                                  

There is nothing more heartbreaking or anger-inducing than a mother who must help a son pick up the pieces of a broken heart, distorted lesson on the Beauty that God created, and sense of self; nothing more incensing than to be a sideline witness to the lies the devil has set upon the heart of your child.  Praise God for His Truth - for it is never too late and one in the bonds of porn addiction is never too far gone.  

As Christopher West in his teachings on St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body shares, it is as if God's creation of humanity and sexuality were a great art masterpiece that, through various forms of overeager puritan cleansing, was crumpled and tossed into the trash.  (Think of nakedness in the Garden of Eden or orders to paint clothes on ancient fresco's containing the human body) 

Porn pulled this trashed painting out of the dumpster, distorted and darkened it for the god of pleasure and pride, making up rules as one goes on.  The Devil takes these chains of distortion of the natural good, forming it for his own evil plans and lies.  He chains you to the pleasure while lying to say you can never be forgiven for your nefarious lustfulness.  

Pornography has become so commonplace, even the vigilant have a difficult time not stumbling upon some form of crooked view of the goodness that is the human body.  Music, Novels, Meme's, Gif's, innocent Google searches; all of it contains images, written and visual alike, that conjure a twisted view of what God created for Good:  the physical love of a man and woman, begetting children and carrying new life lit with hope in the world. 

Porn is like a terrible virus, curable only with a strong temperament and herculean efforts because not only does it affect the soul, it changes the very functions your brain conducts.  Thankfully, there are a great many resources (Integrity Restored and Covenant Eyes) that have professionals who are eager and willing to help.  

This is a difficult topic for parents to break open with children, but it can be done (I promise) and is vital to each and every one of our very beings.  Porn and sensual selfishness tears hearts, families, and children's lives asunder.  It destroys marriages and kills ability to love.  

We live in a murky and wealthy culture where if one is uncomfortable, one can change that rather quickly: Too cold? crank up the heat. Too hot? turn on the air.  Too full? stop eating. Too hungry? run to the store or make something. Too sore? Go to the Dr. or get a massage.  A great many other ailments plague our restless souls: too relaxed, too sad, too happy, too sunny, too grey, too much rain, not enough rain, and on and on and on.  

It is hard work to live and sacrifice for another - to devote our lives to The One who Loves us the most (whether we recognize Him or not).  It is even harder to sacrifice and devote our lives to another fallen human, set together for life in marriage and be frequently reminded that he will disappoint or will not fill the heart.  

It is vital that we, fallen humanity, recognize and restore our minds and hearts to recognize the great beauty and Truth of the Original Masterpiece, carefully smooth it and restore it to the best of our ability.