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Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments

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"Such an act of love between a man and a woman is - or certainly was ordained to be - a symbol of total union: union of their hearts, their hopes, their lives, their love, their family, their future, their everything...The Prophet Joseph Smith once said we perhaps could render such a sacred bond as welding-that those united in matrimony and eternal families are welded together, inseparable if you will, to withstand the temptations of the adversary and the afflictions of morality."

"Sexual intimacy is not only a symbolic union between a man and a woman- the uniting of their very souls-but it is also symbolic of a union between morals and deity, between otherwise ordinary and falliable humans uniting for a rare and special moment with God Himself and all the powers by which He gives life in this wide universe of ours." "Human intimacy is a kind of sacrament, a very special symbol","Those special moments of union with God are sacramental moments","These are the moments when we quite literally unite our will with God's will","We take some of that divinity to ourselves", and by "invitation stand with Him in privilege and principality". Sexual union is a sacrament of the highest order.

The prophet Jacob taught in the Book of Mormon when confronting sexual transgression, "For Behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land...And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people...shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts. For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction." The prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon taught that sexual transgression was "an abomination above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost." Can the wicked think to say "I have done no wickedness" before the divine judge and escape punishment? Are our bodies really ours? Paul taught,"Ye are not your own", "Ye are bought with a price" meaning we are ransomed from Justice through the repentance process made available through the atonement of Christ.

"But I know of nothing so earth-shatteringly powerful and yet so universally and unstintingly given to us as the God-given power available in every one of us from our early teen years on to create a human body, that wonder of all wonders, a genetically and spiritually unique being never before seen in the history of the world and nver to be duplicated again in all the ages of eternity: a child, our child-with eyes and ears and fingers and toes and a future of unspeakable grandeur." "Of all the titles He has chosen for himself, Father is the one he declares and creation is his watchword-especially human creation, creation in his image...We-you and I are his prized possessions."

"And the only control placed on us is self-control-self control born of respect for the divine sacramental power it is."

This must be one of the greatest sermons ever delivered on sexual morality. Written from a Latter-Day Saint perspective, Elder Holland stresses the beauty of sancitity of the relationship between husband and wife, and the importance of chastity and fidelity.