The Intention of God

A friend posed this question to me after reading the essay titled "Where Non-Aborting Contraceptives Make Sense" (I rearranged his actual words) - "Isn't the rhythm method (a Catholic approved birth control method) essentially a way of preventing conception and an affront to the sovereignty of God?"

This is a very important question to address if we are to be complete in our reflection on the act and goal of preventing pregnancy (birth control) regardless of the method or device employed to achieve this desired endpoint.

This was my response - "I myself asked the same question you are asking at some point in my life. If I were to give the Pope and the College of Cardinals the benefit of the doubt, I would say that they were acquiescing to the 'hardness of the heart' of the flock concerning birth control. We can see another example of this type of acquiescing in the example cited by Jesus when He was questioned by Pharisees as to why divorce was allowed in the Law under Moses and He replied 'Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way...' (Matthew 19:8).

I believe that from the beginning, it was God's design and intention for creation to take part in the act of creation. However, let us keep in mind that although our act (not necessarily a choice made by the soul) of having sexual intercourse is the first step in the complex process of creating another human body, it is a but a small initial step and not the deciding factor. It is still God who makes the rest of the remaining elements of the entire process take place or not. By the remaining elements, we are talking about the fertilization of the egg by one single sperm, the subsequent initial division of this fertilized egg into two cells and the continuing division of cells into the millions of cells that build a viable human being. It is also God who binds a soul with the fertilized egg at the very moment of conception thereby creating a body-soul entity.

With this picture of the process in mind, we can see that it is all God's process beginning with the moment just after the sex act itself. Any choice by the mind (due to human programming) or, worse, a willful choice by the soul (reflecting a desire to be God) to avoid pregnancy through the use of some device or method is, plain and simple, an act that is not in alignment with the "intentions" of God.

This is the unavoidable conclusion that any person (who looks at this truthfully from this perspective) would reasonably arrive at. I am very much culpable of this transgression. How do I find my peace despite my "choosing" acts that are not in alignment with the intentions of God? I do so by focusing on the incremental successes I have managed to achieve in my continuous striving to overcome my human nature in this regard (and in all other regards). Additionally, I find my peace through my earnest efforts in applying the following principle in my daily living - in all activities and matters of choice, strive to do all things with great love (a teaching of Mother Teresa).

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