Lust

Now that I have your attention, let's talk sins. I thought about doing this as one huge post, listing the seven deadly sins and their counterparts, but it just seems so much more, um, what's the word? Juicy to do it this way...

So, Sin number one. LUST

Come on, we've all felt it to an extent, especially after a few beers, a couple shots of tequila and a dry spell without, well, you know. It's bad, naughty, dirty boy, dirty girl, bad... but when you're in it... ooooohhh it's good. (Unless of course, you're married and you're lusting over some woman that you met over a year ago and haven't stopped thinking about and you destroy your marriage and the entire future of your kids, then, well, it's really not so good. Ooops, my hand just kept typing!) So, lust is a deadly sin. But why? Is it because, like George Castanza proved in Seinfeld it interferes with your ability to use your brain? He became chaste for a period of time and don't you know it, was smarter than Einstein simply because his head was clear. Could that be the reason? Maybe, but it seems far fetched. Is there anyone out there that's been chaste long enough to prove it? Not many, not many...

So maybe lust is a deadly sin because it exists only for pleasure and not procreation? But, then, I think, God made us, so he knew what he was doing when he created the big O. So, it can't be just because it's pleasurable. I mean really, how many people regard sex as a means to procreation every time? So, it can't be that.

Oh! (Not to be misinterpreted as the Oh in well, you know). Oh! I think I know why lust is bad. If one has lust for someone other than his (or her) spouse, and acts on it, and destroys a marriage and makes the future of his (or her) children much more difficult, then it can be regarded as a sin. (Again, my hands dammit!). I did do a little research on the topic (well, if you call typing lust into google and pulling a quote from the first site you come to research), and this is what I learned:

Lustful people, those guilty of committing the deadly sin of lust, will be punished in hell by being smothered in fire and brimstone. There doesn't appear to be much connection between this and the sin itself, unless one assumes that the lustful spent their time being "smothered" with physical pleasure and must now endure being smothered by physical torment.

Holy mother, that's a hell of a price to pay for a drunkin' round of the big O. But really, really, reeeaaallly... is anyone thinking about fire and brimstone after a few beers, a couple shots of tequila and a dry spell?

Let's talk about something better here... chastity. Okay, so many of you may not think it's better. I'm not sure if I do. I mean really if someone was holding a fist full of lust in one hand and chastity in the other for your choosing, which would you choose? But chastity is the virtue that will protect you from the deadly, naughty, dirty sin of lust. Even as I write it, I am attracted to the sin, but maybe that's because I've had a few beers, a couple shots of tequila and I am meandering through a dry spell.

Chastity in olden days could be summed up as: If you can get the milk for free, why buy the cow? It was always considered a woman's virtue not a man's because men, well, they're beastly and virile and they're conquerors and women, well, they like to bond. But today, chastity is both equally (yeah, right) regarded as a virtue for both men and women. Funny, the word slut never comes to mind when I think about men. Yet, I think it can be applied to both sexes equally if you regard it not as complete withdrawal (no pun intended!) of sex, but as a means to control sexual appetite. When the appetite is controlled then the deadly sin of lust will not come into play, and that's good because we want to protect the sanctity of families, and the emotional stability of those who become victims of lust. (We've all seen those victims, haven't we? They're the ones swaying drunkenly to the music on the dance floor at the wee hours before closing, mascara streaking down their faces and indignant, exasperated questions floating around them - "Why not me? How come nobody wants me?" And then you have the lust-monger who says, "Hey baby, you're looking gooo-ooo-ooo-ood!" Voila, a victim of lust.

I don't know. I am willing to bet that chastity is a means to God. If your head is full of lustful thoughts it's a bit difficult to squeeze God into those thoughts - the guilt alone in sharing that space makes it an impossibility. But, my view of it is that maybe it's a way to be clean and open and honest about who you are when you're chaste - and in so doing, allowing yourself to be open to what God has to give you, especially if you feel that you really need it. I'm not an expert and I've fallen victim to lust and I think that's okay, as long as I don't get suffocated by the fire and brimstone of hell. But, that won't happen. After all, I'm in a dry spell because of lust. I've learned my lesson - that damn slut!