A Book, not a Movie

May 9, 2018 | (299 words)

Life is more like a book, than a movie. Consider the way our faith tells us that sexual activity outside of marriage is contrary to the natural law that is written on our hearts.

Yet popular entertainment continues to provide us with a steady stream of visual images that portray sex outside of marriage as a natural part of life – as easy and fun and as inconsequential as falling off a log. Since nothing adverse ever happens to the attractive actors in these little scenarios, the subversive message being smuggled into our brains is that we should all let our hair down and cut loose, whenever the urge strikes. With whoever happens to be in the vicinity.

But real life is not like the movies, is it? It’s true, when we act against the natural law, and the moral order that expresses that law, there is frequently no immediate discernable effect on our person. For instance, our nose does not elongate, and we don’t grow a third arm. Our heads don’t explode, like some video game special effect.

Though often hidden from view, our poor choices have a corrosive effect on our heart, mind, and soul – on the core of our being. This corrosive effect is cumulative, and is exacerbated over time. In this way it is often only as we age that we begin to glimpse the negative impact our unfortunate actions have had on our integrity as a human being.

And by then it can feel like it’s too late to do anything about it. The whole thing plays out very much like “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a story for our time if ever there was one.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.
May 9, 2018