"The gift of touch is an incredibly 
wonderful gift.  One of the reasons we are here is to touch each other 
physically as well as Spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.  Touch 
is not bad or shameful.  Our creator did not give us sensual and sexual 
sensations that feel so wonderful just to set us up to fail some perverted, 
sadistic life test.  Any concept of god that includes the belief that 
the flesh and the Spirit cannot be integrated, that we will be punished for 
honoring our powerful human desires and needs, is - in my belief - a sadly 
twisted, distorted, and false concept that is reversed to the Truth of a Loving
God-Force.           
        We need to strive for balance and integration
 in our relationships.  We need to touch in healthy, appropriate, emotionally
 honest ways - so that we can honor our human bodies and the gift that is
physical touch.  
         
        Making Love is a celebration and a way of 
honoring the Masculine and Feminine Energy of the Universe (and the masculine 
and feminine energy within no matter what genders are involved), a way of 
honoring its perfect interaction and harmony.  It is a blessed way of 
honoring the Creative Source." 
         
        ***
  "Whenever two or more are gathered in the name of
Love and Truth, in the name of healing, there is incredible power.” 
         
        Codependence: The Dance of
Wounded Souls by Robert Burney
            
        
 On one of my web pages I state that romantic relationships are the greatest 
arena for Spiritual growth available to us.  I believe that this is the
Truth because it is the area that is most important to us.  Recently 
I saw a communication from the Dalai Lama in which he stated a very simple 
Truth:  we all want to the same thing, to be happy and feel Loved.  
I would simplify that even further to say:  feeling Loved makes us happy 
- so ultimately we all want the same thing, to feel Loved. 
         
        Romantic relationships are not the only type of relationships that
we can feel Loved in, of course, but they are the only relationships in which
we can completely connect with another being with all the levels of our being:
physical, emotional, mental, and Spiritual. 
         
        There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to connect with 
another being on a physical level.   A Loving God/Goddess/Great 
Spirit would not give us sensual and sexual sensations that feel so wonderful
 unless we were meant to enJoy them.  Making Love - becoming one with
 another being in the moment - is so powerful because it is symbolic of the 
Highest Truth, that we are all ONE.  
         
        Being sexual with another being without connection on the other 
levels however, is ultimately pretty empty and shallow - but a shadow of how
glorious the uniting can be when there is True Spiritual union, mental connection,
and emotional intimacy. 
         
        Of these levels of connection, the one that is hardest to achieve 
because of the dysfunction we were raised in, is the level of emotional intimacy.
         
         
        When both people in a romantic relationship are in recovery from 
their emotional wounds and dysfunctional intellectual programming there is 
the potential for a partnership that touches the Divine - that has moments
 when the connection is nothing short of Sacred.  The greatest gift
of romantic relationships is that they can help us to remember how 
much we Truly are Loved - that who we are on the Highest level is LOVE. 
Here is a quote from A Wedding Prayer/Meditation on Romantic Commitment that
I wrote for two friends at the beginning of this year:  
         
        "You are together because you resonate on the same wave 
lengths, you fit together vibrationally, in such a way that together you form
a powerful energy field that helps both of you access the Higher Vibrational
 Energy of Love, Joy, Light, and Truth - in a way that would be very difficult
 for either one of you to do by yourself.  You are coming together to 
touch the face of God.  You are uniting your energies to help you access 
the Love of the Holy Mother Source Energy.            
          You are not the source of each other's Love.  You are helping 
each other to access the LOVE that is the Source."
         
  Whenever two or more are gathered.  The purpose of romantic relationships
 is Spiritual - and the more that we remember that who we Truly are is Spiritual
 Beings having a human experience, the more we can enjoy the human part of 
the interaction including the sexual coming together.          
        That does not mean that it is bad or wrong if you are presently 
in a relationship that does not include connection on all levels.  One
 of the tricky things about romantic relationships is that the only way to 
really learn to do a romantic relationship in a healthy way is to be in one.  
We all need time alone between relationships to process our feelings, do our
grieving, and heal our relationship with self - but ultimately, it is only
in a relationship that the buttons to our deepest wounds and greatest fears
are pushed.  That is why romantic relationships are such a great arena
for Spiritual growth - because they are so personal that they bring us face
to face with our deepest wounds. 
         
        As I say repeatedly in my book and on my web site, we need to take
the shame and judgment out of our internal process and realize that we are
in boarding school being guided from lesson to lesson on our journey home
to Love - to the Divine Source of which we are all perfect parts.   Do
not judge yourself for the relationship you are in - or for not being in a
relationship.  Maybe the Divine Plan is for you to be in five more relationships
before you get into one that will last.  Maybe being alone in this lifetime
is healing the Karma we need to heal to be with our Twin Soul in the next
lifetime.  We do not, and cannot, know what the Divine Plan is - what
we can do is align ourselves with Truth so that we can own the power to Love
ourselves more, which gives us the capacity to open up to receiving more
Love from others. 
         
        The more that we awaken to the Truth that the whole purpose of 
life is Spiritual - that everything and everyone in our life is a perfect 
part of our Spiritual growth process - the easier it becomes to allow ourselves
 to overcome our fears and take the risk (rather that means getting involved
 in a relationship or leaving one that is not working) that Truly there is 
a God-Force that has a Loving plan for us that is unfolding perfectly, with 
no accidents, coincidences, or mistakes. 
         
        The more that we have faith in the power of LOVE, the more we are
able to take the risk of opening ourselves to Love, the more opportunities 
we will have to Truly start integrating Spiritual Truth into our human experience. 
 Then we can have the opportunity to enJoy more fully all of the gifts of
this beautiful playground that is the illusion of human life on Earth - including 
the incredible gift of being able to Touch with Love.  I am going to 
conclude this article with the end of my Meditation on Romantic Commitment 
because I feel like it says what I am trying to communicate very well. 
         
        "The more you do your healing and follow your Spiritual 
path the more moments of each day you will have the choice to Truly be present
 the moment.            
          And in the moment you can make a choice to embrace and feel the
Joy fully and completely and with Gusto. 
           
          In any specific moment you will have the power to make a choice 
to feel the Love in that moment as if you have never been hurt and as if the
Love will never go away. 
           
          Completely absolutely unconditionally with fearless abandon you
can embrace the Love and Joy in the moment. 
           
          Glory in it! 
           
          Loving is the Grandest, most sublime adventure available to us. 
          
           
          Lets your hearts sings together.  
           
          Let your souls soar to unimagined heights.  
           
          Wallow in the sensual pleasure of each others bodies. 
          
           
          Roar with the Joy of being fully alive. 
           
          Go for it!!!!"