Wednesday 25 February 2015

Just saying.


I have not been to see Fifty Shades of Grey. I have not read Fifty Shades of Grey. I have no plans to. I am not prudish. I don’t feel I’ve missed out. I abhor violence. I think the people who have missed out are those who find insufficient pleasure in the exquisite bliss of gentle, tender, respectful sex, and are driven to cruel and sadistic power games and watching/reading pornography. I believe in gentleness. I enjoy peaceful tenderness. I like simple, humble love that regards the other as infinitely precious, not to be dominated or hurt. And that a Christian journal should have sent a Christian leader to go and see Fifty Shades of Grey to review it, I find disappointing – falling for the oldest trick in the Bible: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Heard it before. Not true. Seeing the way to go comes from walking in the light, not from dabbling in the darkness. I wonder how long it will take him to get what he heard and saw out of his mind?
 

29 comments:

gretchen said...

right there with you, pen.

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) xx

Sandra Ann said...

Totally agree with you x

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) xx

Anonymous said...

Very nice Pen - the Warrior of the Light !!!
Igor

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) Waving!

BLD in MT said...

Very, very well put, my friend. And yes, the light, let's stay in and celebrate the beautiful, affirming light!

Rapunzel said...

Amen!
The best explanation against "smut" we were given by our church teachers in our teen class lo these many decades ago is this: If we eat something that turns out to have been toxic we will vomit, this is the body's way of protecting itself.
But the mind has no such mechanism. If we see or hear something harmful to our spirit we cannot ever un-see or un-hear it, it is programmed into us permanently. So it is wise to avoid anything that even smacks of being harmful.
Good to know there are others wise enough to avoid trouble beforehand rather than trying to solve it afterward : )

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

Thank you, Pen.

Such abusive relationships surely cannot have any place in a Christianity which likens marriage to the relationship 'twixt Christ and His church.

Suze said...

Well said. I have not read the books, nor do I plan to see the movie. The backlash against the movies has been huge in Australia.

Pen Wilcock said...

Here, I've heard/read some Christians making the point that one cannot judge or criticise what one hasn't read. Also that, if this is the film/book drawing the crowds, well one excludes oneself from dialogue if one doesn't read/see what the intense interest centres on. And that entering dialogue offers opportunities to argue for better perspectives.

When I try to stand on that ground, I can feel the sand shifting beneath my feet. When I rest my hand on it, I feel the apparently stable surface writhe.

To bring forth truth and converse in wisdom, to communicate peace, only truth, wisdom and peace are necessary.

Maybe for some people there is a calling to be where the crowd is, to experience everything in order to discuss, but I cannot testify to such a calling - only to quietness in order to listen, to de-toxing in order to become, if it may be, as clear as water. I feel - viscerally - that I cannot afford to take sludge into my mind.

Jenna said...

Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the LORD'S time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.

Jeremiah often says to flee and "come out of her, my people."

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) xx

Anonymous said...

I haven’t read the books because I’m not tempted by erotic fiction that is appallingly written. ;)

I confess I DID see the film (with a friend who was curious). I am not condoning the BDSM lifestyle, but what two mutually consenting adults choose to do in private disturbs me far less than an incredibly controlling relationship where a powerful man is dictating to his inexperienced girlfriend what she WEARS, what she EATS, what kind of contraceptive she uses, etc. ... yikes!!! Eventually the heroine gets very upset when the BDSM stuff exceeds what she’s comfortable with, and at that point she walks right out of the relationship and the film ends. Thankfully. (But of course she returns to him, in the next two books, and so there will be a second film and ... nope, I won’t be giving my money to this franchise any more.)

- Philippa

Pen Wilcock said...

:0D

xx

Sandy said...

Well said!!

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) xx

Anonymous said...

Commenting about what you said about shifting sand... I can vaguely remember something from a lecture at uni about a paste of cornflour and water which flows like a liquid but when you apply pressure it behaves like a solid. The spirirual significance of that? The ground we put weight on by standing our ground does not shift, it is when we "let go of things" that they become fluid and start to slip through our fingers. Does that make any sense?

Pen Wilcock said...

Yes, it does make sense - in fact I can physically imagine (if that's not a contradiction in terms) the feeling of it in reading your words!

LANA said...

I agree, you can't "unsee" things like that, and it is not the love and intimacy that was intended by God.

Rebecca said...

I couldn't agree with you more, my friend.

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) Waving! xx

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

Hi Pen,
Just to let you know I have reviewed "The Wounds of God" here:
http://thegardenwindow.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-wounds-of-god.html

I do so love dear Brother Tom :-D

Pen Wilcock said...

Oh, wow! Thank you, friend! I think that's the nicest review I ever had! :0D xx

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

These two books have been some of the most powerful Lenten reading I have ever done.
They have been a blessing, a wake-up call and a challenge to my conscience.
They have spoken to my heart and my soul - thank you!

Pen Wilcock said...

Oh, you make me happy! The thing you say is what I want in life, what I want my contribution to be. Thank you so much, and thank you for the lovely review - the only way writers can continue in reality is by word-of-mouth recommendation. Big publicity creates an artificial puff that cannot sustain the work. It the *realities* that build something lasting and worthwhile. If you email me your address and name, because I believe Elizabeth is a pen-name (and I apologise if I already have these, and have forgotten) I will ask my publisher to send you the next three in the series as review copies, when they come out in July. xxx

Pen Wilcock said...

Got that safely, emailed the publisher and myself to make sure we don't forget. The next three come out in July, so I guess we should have copies to send you in June. xx

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

That will be wonderful - thank you!

Jynene said...

Amen & Amen.