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Weekly Saturday Series
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
A creative combination of
teaching, discussion, & meaningful activities
Refreshments served @ 10:45 AM
Children’s program @ 11:00 AM
LOCATION: 611 S. Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA – FREE
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"A SONG ABOUT SEX & LOVE:
Ancient Enhancements For
Maximum Experience"
August 7 - 28
"The word 'sex' is related to the Latin wordsecare: 'to sever, to amputate, to disconnect from the whole.' Our sexuality has two dimensions: First our sexuality is our awareness of how profoundly we're severed and cut off and disconnected. Second, our sexuality is all of the ways we go about trying to reconnect ... For many, sexuality is simply what happens between two people involving physical pleasure. But that's only a small percentage of what sexuality is. Our sexuality is all of the ways we strive to reconnect with our world, with each other, and with God." (Rob Bell, Sex God, pp. 40, 42)
Looked at from this vantage point, sexuality is a very spiritual experience - whenever we explore ways to reconnect more fully with who we truly are and with who others truly are and with who our understanding of God is that is the core of spirituality. Reconnecting, realigning, reintegrating ourselves.
To help us engage in this process, we're looking at one of the great ancient poem-songs about human sexuality and love. It's called "The Song of Songs" (composed somewhere around the 10th century BC). It's a beautiful picture of two people madly in love with each other, and the ups and downs of this love and passion.
The ancient Hebrews had a very holistic view of human life, as opposed to the Greeks who believed that your soul and body were two separate entities, with the soul being the more important. So what you did to your body didn't impact the soul - sex was simply "food for the stomach" and nothing more.
Not so with the Hebrews. Each part impacts the whole. Everything is interconnected. And everything is thus spiritual. So this Hebrew holism made their stories and poems and songs very earthy, real, transparent, and provocative.
Each week in this series, we're looking closely at one of four themes about love and sexuality in the poem-song. What does it say about human life, human sexuality, human love, human connections? What does it suggest about how we can "reconnect" with our genuine sexuality - our individual true selves and the true selves of others, the world, and God?
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