Forever

Most of you have seen the infamous Wedding Dance video* on YouTube (and spoofed on the show "The Office"), but for those who haven't, the video shows a couple and their wedding party dance into the chapel to Chris Brown's Forever, a song released and made popular last year.

I'm guessing most of you have heard Forever... if you have not, you can listen to it on Lala.

In the song, Chris Brown comes so close to the Catholic teaching of the purpose of sexuality and marriage that I almost thought he was quoting John Paul II's Theology of the Body. But, like most popular musicians today, he went a little too far and mangled the true meaning of nuptial love.

From Chris Brown's Forever:

"It's you and me moving at the speed of light into eternity... Tonight is the night to join me in the middle of ecstasy...

It's like I've waited my whole life for this one night..."

After listening to the rest of the song, it's pretty apparent he's only talking about a one night stand, or at the minimum, some other immoral behavior that will hurt both him and his dance partner. But there are grains of true wisdom in the words quoted above.

"...Moving at the speed of light into eternity."

God gave us a great gift in human sexuality, and one of the greatest acts that expresses this sexuality is intercourse between a married man and woman. Every time a married couple performs this great act, given as a gift by God, without any barrier or stain of sinful lust, the couple experiences "an image, a foretaste, a little glimmer of the eternal ecstasy that awaits us in Heaven" (Quoted from Christopher West).

Chris Brown, and, I assume, most other people in our culture who know sexual acts to be so enlivening and joyous as to attach the word 'ecstasy,' knows how good it feels to have intercourse. However, most people leave their intercourse and feelings on a natural level. This makes their relationships fall apart, mostly due to the fact that the result is usually selfish lust. But we want to go higher—we want to have intercourse give us a glimpse of "the eternal ecstasy in Heaven!" We want to experience a nugget of the beautiful and awe-inspiring glory of God's presence!

Sex is Sacred

We, as Catholics, are called by Christ to preserve the marital act (sexual intercourse) for married relationships, and to bring our bodies before Christ. A married couple must pray that they keep their thoughts and actions pure, and always seek union with God. Only then can we really be "moving at the speed of light into eternity" and join each other "in the middle of ecstasy!"

Next time you listen to Chris Brown's Forever, you might want to say a little prayer that Chris (and anyone else who shares his sentiments) can take another step and understand how powerful and amazing sexuality can truly be, if it is lived within a loving and committed relationship with God at the center!

*Note: I do not endorse this kind of behavior during a wedding liturgy... I simply provide the link as a point of reference.

If you'd like to read more about sexuality in a Catholic worldview, I highly recommend Christopher West's Theology of Body for Beginners.