Are Eyes Beautiful on Plates?
The apologist Frank Sheed made an analogy in his book Theology and Sanity that I think about a lot. He explains how the Church sees the universe as it is. What does the Church see? The Church sees what’s there. Insanity is to divert the mind’s eye to falsity. There’s security in trusting that you can see and know what is real. That’s how it felt learning the Church’s teaching on marriage and family; I gained confidence in my own sanity.
We know as children that in the real world mommies and daddies matter, and children need them. We know that our own bodies are not mere objects to be given away and consumed. We know that we desire to love and be loved, to know and be known, to belong. It takes mental wrangling to convince yourself that this is not really true, but people do it anyway. I say this a lot: Satan’s most effective weapon is the destruction of the family. Destroy that, and you destroy people and societies for generations. Why? Because to convince yourself that mommies and daddies don’t matter and that sex is divorced from love and commitment is literally – insanity.
What does Sheed’s memorable analogy involve? Beautiful eyes. When a man stares at the woman he loves and tells her that her eyes are beautiful, he doesn’t intend for her to literally remove them and present them to him on a plate. No, the beauty of her eyes only exists in her face and herself, in their proper position that gives them meaning and usefulness. They are only beautiful in their living context. This is true of all things. It is especially true of the intimate, consummate marital act. To remove it from its living context is to destroy its beauty, and the gift of giving the body away is no gift at all. It is only insane destruction.
Sheed also compares the mental landscape to a physical landscape. We can peer out at the physical world and see the same things a non-believer sees. We can think the same things too. However, what the Church teaches affects the things already in the mental landscape, it enlightens and illuminates their truth. It’s like looking at the horizon during a sunrise. It’s still the same land that was there six hours ago, but when you see it clarified and bathed in sunshine, you see more. Not only do you see reality, you see its glory.
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Theology And Sanity by Francis Joseph Sheed, Part I “Preliminary”, Chapter 1 “Religion and the Mind”, (ii) What does the Church See?
Image credit: Microsoft Powerpoint clip art, Fotolia, Blue-eyed girl
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Category: Catholic Free Press, Featured, Marriage, Social Issues
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Reading Frank Sheed really causes you to think and to put many things into perspective? I agree with your example; it is one that is well chosen!
Happy Memorial Day!
D.v.
D.v. You are the one who introduced me to that book and I’ve read it, studied it, referenced it, and passed several copies on to friends.
I always come back to what you first said to me, “Not a word wasted.”
Thank you and Happy Memorial Day to you too.
When I read “When a man stares at the woman he loves and tells her that her eyes are beautiful,” it reminded me of the saying that the eyes are the gateway to one’s heart or soul. With the human body there are two ways to look at it, focusing below the shoulders can lead to lustful thoughts but focus on the face, especially the eyes can tell so much about a person. They can really express a person’s feeling, look happy on the outside but miserable on the inside. One can look at a person with special needs, see a twisted body and say ‘yuk’, but look at the eyes and you’ll see a person full of love and joy. Unfortuniately today I feel too many people are afraid or scared to look another person in the eye for a variety of reasons.
Hey, don’t be talking smack against Santa Lucia!
Very good! I forgot all about St. Lucy, shame on me. Thank you.
All – The Vatican-2 heretic cult (founded in 1965 at the Vatican) *cannot possibly be* the Catholic Church … since it enforces the opposite, the opposite, and the opposite of the Catholic Dogma.
The founding documents of the vatican-2 heretic cult … the “vatican-2 council” documents … have well over 200 heresies *against* the Dogma of the Catholic God.
Site > Immaculata-one.com
Section 12 > Anti-Christ vatican-2 heresies (50 listed) … followed by Catholic corrections.
Sections 13 and 13.1 > Photographic *proof* of heresy at the Vatican.
Because of … the Catholic Dogma on *automatic excommunication* for heresy or for physical participation in a heretic cult (such as the V-2 cult) …
… we were all placed, body and soul, outside of Christianity (the Catholic Church) on 8 December 1965 … the close date of the “council”.
Section 1 > Salvation (getting to Heaven) Catholic Sources of Dogma.
Section 7.2 > Water Baptism Catholic Sources of Dogma … which rule out “baptism of desire”.
Section 13.2 > Catholic Dogma on automatic excommunication … for not knowing the Catholic Dogma, for believing heresy against Catholic Dogma, or for participation in a heretic cult such as … vatican-2, lutheran, anglican, methodist, evangelical, baptist, pentecostal, etc.
Section 19.1 > Dogma on Abjuration for *re-entering* Christianity (the Catholic Church) … Formal Abjurations, also provided on this Section, will bring your soul into Christianity and separate you from your heretic cult … make the Abjuration which applies to you.
Mike
Our Lady of Conquest
Pray for us
I am a hardcore angry Trad, so I have no problem saying this: run along, sedevacantist, there’s a sale on tinfoil hats down at the bunker.