So I have survived almost another entire trip around the Sun on this spacecraft known as Earth. In other words, my birthday is making its sneaky approach on me once again. Age will remain classified, let's just say it is in that region where I would prefer we were practicing subtraction instead of addition...
An extremely dear friend sent me a package for my birthday, which arrived today in the mail. I was excited, and eager to open it up, until I saw the note "Don't open till August [my birthday]." Immediately I got an urge known to probably every human being since time began... to open it now!
This question of to open or not to open has deeper meaning than just a disappointed friend or an urge satisfied sooner rather than later. As I was fighting back the desire to spoil the surprise, I had the thought, "isn't this kind of like what God asks of us sometimes?" Particularly, it occurred to me that it is like this with physical intimacy.
God gave us our bodies, each (with very few exceptions) designed to present us with an added surprise sometime in our second decade of mortal existence. Namely, that we can create additional versions of beings like ourselves, and experience emotions and feelings rich in pleasure and satisfaction (in part) as an incentive for us to do just that. Yet God, the very One who gave us this present, and really wants us to use it (think first commandment to mankind, "be fruitful, and multiply"), is the same one who says, "don't open until..."
To help in understanding why that is, let's look at the (however imperfect) analogy of my friend and their present to me.
First, why should I wait? Well, one reason I am going to is because they asked me to. I didn't do anything that "earned" me this gift, they were not doing it out of a sense of obligation for something I gave them, they just wanted to be nice to me. Is it too much for me to repay them by honoring their attached request?
Second, why do they want me to wait? What could be viewed in the moment as unfair, is actually not. They want to make sure I have a present to open on the anniversary of my birth, and that my thoughts are applied to its intended purpose when I do enjoy it, namely that of showing their care and thought for me as applied to honoring that specific day. I could open it now, enjoy it, repackage it, and then open it again on my birthday, but let's face it, my enjoyment the second time around would not be as high, and I would either need to lie, or tell my dear friend that I hadn't followed their wish that I save the surprise for the special day.
Third, what could I gain from waiting? Well, one, I could strengthen a trait that I and most other humans are severely lacking in... patience. Also, I now have something to look forward to in about a week, on a day that I was really not too particular if the sun showed up for its job or not... Also, I can now share something with that friend, another tie to bring us closer together. I will be thankful for whatever it is that they got me, and they will be glad that I respected them enough to honor their wish.
As imperfect as it is, this analogy doesn't seem too far of a stretch to me really. God gave me my body, and the ability to create new life, even designing it to be one of the most pleasurable experiences possible. I didn't earn this gift, He just gave it to me. Why shouldn't I honor His request that I wait to open it? It isn't as if He is saying not to open it, just to wait until a preset date. Because I do wait, I will enjoy it all the more when I do, and it will develop in me a greater patience and willingness to work for a future goal. What downsides are there really? Those that could be listed are all about self, and I for one am already too centered in myself as it is. I am part of something so much bigger than myself, I am part of a species numbering in the billions! More than that, I am a child of the God who created this universe, and wants to give me all that He has! But how could He possibly trust me with that, if I can't wait just a little while longer to open this gift He has already given me?
Yes, as a Mormon I believe in complete abstinence before marriage, and absolute fidelity within marriage. But it is so much more than just an ideal I was taught as kid and since - it is about me bending my will of my own free choice to a Being who has known me since before I was born, and knows what will make me the happiest, and it is also about learning to look beyond myself, and towards the needs of others - for that is how anyone truly becomes great!
