may be nourished. But when people live
primarily for the pleasure of eating instead of
eating for the sake of living productive lives
for others, things go wrong. They become
obese and their health and ability to function
well for each other deteriorates, as we see in
our culture today. Getting fat doesn’t get you
happy.
Now take marriage. The fundamental
purpose in marriage is the production of new
human beings. The very existence of mankind
depends on it. Another offspring of marriage
is the development of new, caring, supportive
and productive relationships between the
thought-oriented mind of the husband and
the affection-inspired nature of the wife. These
are the spiritual offspring which keep society
going. Each partner finds his or her fulfillment
in giving and receiving something that the
other by nature lacks and needs, and thereby
something useful for them, and through them
for others, is born.
I find the Heavenly Doctrine’s explanation eminently logical that such
natural and spiritual births are the second beautiful purpose that the sexual
pleasure of marriage is intended to initiate and bring forth. This is how
Swedenborg puts it in Spiritual Experiences 4229:
What this comes
down to is that
there is no place
in that eternal
human community
after death called
heaven for anyone
who puts his or
her own personal
pleasure ahead
of the welfare of
others.
Marriage love is the fundamental of all mutual love, mutual love being that one
wishes for another better than for oneself. But the tie of marriage love is closer. Not
only does one experience the highest happiness in giving himself completely to his
married partner, and being united as one mind, but it is also the love of preservation
of the whole human race, being the mercy of the Lord toward the universal
human race, which streams into marriage love, and thence with the partners, into
their marriage love, the love of procreation of offspring, and the love itself of the
offspring. And, moreover, they are also so created that their minds and hearts may
be ever more closely united.
These endeavors to bring forth natural and spiritual offspring and to unite
minds and hearts are what can make sex in the marriage of a man and a woman
pure and good – indeed, what makes it heaven itself. But homosexuality can
have no such results, because it occurs between intrinsically unconjoinable
entities. Two hearts, or two lungs, can never make the core of a human body.
Likewise a male psyche can