No "Sex" for me

Today a boob-tubing buddy of mine were talking about series we wish to rent on dvd. She recommended Sex and the City to me.

I smiled and shook my head. "I'll never watch that show."

She asked, "Why? Is it the sex?" It would be too simplistic to say yes, but I did anyway.

She began to exalt the shows virtues and talent, humor and "excellence".

My friend needs to get to know me a little better.

This is a relatively new friendship I have been developing, and I love this woman dearly. She isn't a church-goer and is unfamiliar with most things Catholic, I would have to guess. She knows I am Catholic, and I hope I have gotten across to her that I am an actively practicing, orthodox one at that. But I am beginning to wonder if she knows exactly what beliefs I hold fast to and how my opinions and values differ from ones she may hold.

At the moment this conversation occurred, I immediately lifted my thoughts to the Hoy Spirit and asked Him to give me the words I needed.

Should I explain that I hold sex to be a sacred act expressing the profound sacramental union between husband and wife...and only husband and wife?

Should I go into how sex and marriage is symbolic throughout Scripture of the union God wants to have with His people? Should I explain how we are the bride and He is the bridegroom?

Should I share that while I hold sex to be sacred, I do fully believe that the erotic experiences it brings forth are holy and beautiful, for sex was created to be pleasurable since it relflects the ultimate pleasure we could feel when being united with God?

My boob-tubing friend's words quickly interrupt my thoughts. "You know, Sarah Jessica Parker wouldn't do any nude scenes the whole series! Sure, Kim Catrall was full frontal, but the other two were only topless and Sarah Jessica Parker wasn't nude at all!" Should I quickly interject with the question, "if there is nothing wrong with nude scenes, why do you have so much more respect for the actresses who refuse to do them?"

Maybe I could explain that I am certainly no prude; I really do think sex is fun, oftentimes hilarious, and that even the occaisional joke about sex makes me laugh (and if anyone has seen Everybody Loves Raymond, it can make one laugh heartily), but only if those jokes uphold the dignity of the act and those who engage in it.

And what about the intense union sex reveals a man and woman to have once they are sacramentally united? That is why man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and the two become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

And what of the fact that sex is the most powerul act in the universe, for it is the only one that unites humans with God to create life?

Should I prepare to explain the difference between being entertained by a show that may illustrate the human condition with the characters engaging in immoral acts versus a show which in its essence promotes immorality and suppresses virtue?

As these thoughts raced through my head in a matter of 10 seconds or so (yes, my brain works that fast), my final prayer to God was "Give me the words you want me to say at this time."

And as heads and ears turned towards me for my final word on the matter of Sex and the City, the only fumbling words that stuttered out of my mouth were," It's... It's just beyond me and my limits to watch that show."

And that was it. That was all God gave me.

I hope that was what he wanted.