On Physical Intimacy

On physical intimacy

Proper and appropriate intimacy brings respect and mutual appreciation. Improper and inappropriate intimacy breeds contempt, as the old saying goes. The physical intimacy of sex can go either way. Perhaps the second most intimate physical relationship is that of putting a knife or bayonet into someone’s body. There is nothing good about that, but the way a person dies may still inspire appreciation and respect. This is the way of Christian martyrs whose only resistance is that of persistence in witness for their Lord.

Another side of this is when men who fought against each other in battle meet years after hostilities cease. Here the intimacy of combat can turn into a kind of shared suffering and mutual appreciation, but for too many the war goes on in the heart forever, and even death will not extinguish it.