Читать книгу Faithful Sexuality - Gary L. Grafwallner - Страница 9

I was picking up my wife from a bridal shower and arrived early. Not all the presents had been opened, so I got to see some of the serious ones as well as the light-hearted ones. The bride-to-be opened one that contained a jar of flavored body lotion. On the first night of her honeymoon or some other night when she was feeling especially amorous, evidently she was to rub her body with this stuff and then in the heat of passion her partner was supposed to lick it off. To me it sounded like it would make the bed sticky, but then who knows? Everyone laughed and she blushed as the gift’s use was explained.

Do you remember your first kiss as a teen? Some of you may have practiced on a friend, or sibling, or doll before the real event. Or you may have stood in front of a bedroom mirror and puckered up your lips, half open, held your breath, and slowly exhaled through your nostrils. My first kiss was with a girl following a school dance. It was awkward and I felt self-conscious. I think I recall feigning excitement, but I was unsure of myself and my feelings for the girl I kissed. Early in my life there had been all kinds of kisses: kisses of welcome, kisses of comfort after a bad fall from a trike, kisses of endearment, bedtime kisses from my mother, and a variety of kisses from my maternal grandmother, favorite aunts, and one or two older cousins. A romantic kiss is quite different.

To return to the flavored body lotion—can you imagine what it would be like to have your entire body kissed if you were freshly bathed? How does the thought of your beloved kissing you starting with your toes and moving up your body until they finally reach your neck, ears, lips, and forehead make you feel? Could you lie back and receive that gift as their lips lovingly honored each part of your body? It would certainly make me feel very affirmed. Come to think of it, we do this with babies, but I wonder how many of us experience this as adults?

Within the early church “the kiss of peace” was practiced between believers during worship. One New Testament letter says, “Greet one another with the kiss of peace.” It apparently was a sign of reconciliation and unity in Christ as well as of friendship. In different congregations I suspect people get into this practice in varying degrees based on the nature of congregational life and also the history of the relationship. Nowadays we call it the “Sharing of the Peace.” It involves the verbal greeting, “The Peace of the Lord be with you,” between pastor and congregation and then between the members. It is often followed by a handshake, hug, or kiss. “The Peace” often is shared between spouses, parents, and children, friends, singles, and marrieds. At congregations where I served, some Sundays people get carried away and newcomers are either put off or drawn in by it. One of the observations the Greco-Roman world made of the early Christians was, “See how they love one another.”

It’s amazing what we can communicate through a kiss: welcome, playfulness, comfort, reassurance, affection, tenderness, curious exploration, a sensuous invitation, deep passion, fatigue, a farewell. A coworker of mine once said, “Lips are made for the sport of it.” Ah, how true and so much more.

Questions for Reflection

• Whose kisses do you yearn for? Have you told them?

• Who might yearn for your kisses? Have you asked them?

Prayer

• Extravagant God, thank you for creating us with lips. No matter what our age or gender, we all need to give and receive kisses. It’s a great way to communicate. Amen.