Another pleasure, which takes up most of the Song of Solomon (another unjustly ignored book of the Bible) is romantic love. To save space, I will not quote the Song of Solomon. But here is part of a medieval poem that is in Carmina Burana:
Si puer cum puellula
Moraretur in cellula,
Felix coniunctio.
Amore suscrescente,
Pariter e medio
Avulso procul edio,
Fit ludus ineffabilis
Membris, lacertis, labilis.
The unknown minstrel wrote, if a young man and a young woman are in a little room, how happy their coupling; love grows, and from them weariness is driven away, and playfulness begins in their limbs, their arms, their lips.
I think most of us realize that no more long-term happiness can be found in loose sex than in excessive drinking. We can be truly happy only if we take care of our bodies and respect other people. But there is no denying that sex is one of the greatest pleasures of life, a fact regarding which the Biblical writer of Song of Solomon was not bashful.
Erotic love is actually three different things, as explained by Helen Fisher in Why We Love. One kind of erotic love is lust, caused by the hormone testosterone, which a person can feel for many others at the same time. Another kind is passion, the crazed fixation upon just one other person, caused by the brain chemical dopamine (it is interesting that this neurotransmitter sounds like “dope” and makes you act like a dope). The third kind is contentment, caused by the hormone oxytocin. Promiscuity makes use of only the first. Although being in love can make you miserable (sound familiar to any of you?), human experience is poorer without it. By the time you get older, love consists of little teacups of oxytocin. But it is mighty good.
But as we enjoy summer and autumn, let us remember the pleasures of drink and love, and other pleasures that restrictive religion tells us we should feel guilty about even in moderation. Let us not spend our lives denying ourselves moderate and safe pleasures, only to find ourselves old and unable to enjoy them. For far too soon, Luck the Empress of the World will draw our time to a close.
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