Green Sex: The Case for Natural Family Planning

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org

In my opinion, the case for natural family planning has never been so well said. This is a wonderful talk! If you haven’t heard or read anything by Jason Evert, I encourage you to do so. Especially check out his Chastity Project website. Jason is such a dynamic speaker and writer. His enthusiasm is contagious!

A generous friend bought this talk for my husband and I to listen to, and we are so grateful. We both enjoyed it. I hope you have the opportunity to buy it for yourselves as well, or perhaps for a friend.

Before listening, I (ahem) thought I would know most of what Jason would talk about because so much of our teacher training for CCL covers Church documents and teaching, among other things. Jason’s approach is totally different from what I expected. For those that might suspect it, this is not a talk about, “how you should be using NFP because contraception is evil.” It progresses very naturally and beautifully beginning with God’s original design for sex and ending with a wonderful description of all the benefits of natural family planning. Why contraception harms us on so many levels makes sense when we understand it from the full perspective; when we take a step back and look at the big picture.

Some of my favorite images from this talk include his description of the traditional Jewish betrothal ceremony. How a Jewish man would propose to his beloved; how her drinking the cup with him was a sign of her acceptance; how he would then, “go to prepare a place,” for his bride; and that “only his father would know” the wedding date as it would be for him to decide. Jason goes into more detail about this and how it all ties into Scripture, as an analogy Jesus used to describe for us the relationship God is calling us to in union with Him in heaven. Jason expounds on the beauty of the marital embrace, how when there is a need for family planning, NFP is the best option because contraception degrades this beautiful gift and hurts us. This is just a sampling. Nothing can substitute for actually listening to the talk yourself.

This has topped my personal favorites chart. Like a favorite book, this is one I will listen to over and over again. I hope in some future posts to explain more fully some of the things I have learned from Jason’s talk, and pull in some other sources. In the meanwhile, go to Lighthouse Catholic Media and check it out for yourself!