"Practicing Passion" quotes
Right now I am wading through a book on youth ministry called, Practicing Passion: youth and the quest for a passionate church by Kenda Creasy Dean. I just finished chapter five. She talked about how the age-old teenage struggle with sex is related to our longing to commune with God and other people. If teenagers aren't finding intimate communion with God and others in the church, then it is only natural that they pursue our culture's picture of "intimate communion," namely...sex. It was a fascinating chapter and worth the price of the book. Anyway, here are a couple of statements that stuck out to me:
"Premature sexual behavior signals a crisis in intimacy, not its fulfillment, as young people longing for secure attachments are thrust into a sexualized public world that makes them feel anything but secure.
"We have substituted romance for religion as a vehicle of self-transcendence. Popular songs chant the 'theology' of romance, worshipping the beloved with hymns of praise: 'You are my destiny,' 'I can't live without your love,' 'You are my everything.'" -p. 127 (quoting Caroline Simon)
"Postmodern youth may be dying because of their dates, but what they are dying for is someone who will be there for them, someone who can draw them beyond themselves into the mystery of 'we,' someone who is 'one' with them and therefore holds out the gift of 'being known.' And if the only route to this intimacy seems to be sex, then sex it will be." -p. 129
"Intimacy involves you and me, but also takes place within the embrace of Jesus Christ whose suffering love redefines the intimacy between us. In other words, authentic intimacy requires the presence of a transcendent Other who sheds light on us from beyond ourselves, illuminating human relationships in a new way." -p. 130
"Kids today are growing up without any understanding of the incremental steps of getting to know each other...They have no way of knowing how to explore their first inklings of wanting to be with each other." -p. 133 (quoting Patricia Hersch)
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