Sex is how I pray?

On a list serv for members of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, someone asked people for their reactions to a new phrase he has coined for advocacy and education, "Sex is how I pray."


I understood that he is trying to affirm that one way people can know God or the divine is through our intimate relationships, including our sexual relationships. Throughout time, people have reported erotic feelings during spiritual practice (think the writings of the mystics) and spiritual feelings during sexual relations.


But, I find the expression "Sex is how I pray" troubling on many levels. I believe it could lead someone to infer that the speaker is engaging in some type of cultic sexual practices, a practice decried in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. It has the potential for minimizing or indeed mocking the importance of prayer in people's lives. And it seems nearly CERTAIN to anger rather than inform those who hold conservative beliefs about sexual justice.


I'm wondering what YOU think about this slogan -- and I'd especially like to hear from the more conservative readers of my blog (you know who you are.) I'm taking a bit of a beating on the AASECT list serv at the moment. You would think that after all these years I would be used to be attacked from both the secular left and the religious right -- but I'm not.


I do believe it is in our relationships with others that we come closest to knowing God's intentions for us. I love this quote from Meister Eckart -- "all that God asks of you most pressingly is to go out of yourself -- and let God be God in you."