Don’t believe me? Well, that’s fair. Chastity might just be the most misunderstood concept ever. It’s not just about not having sex. It’s not just for single people.

cover-chastity is for lovers

If my interview with Arleen Spenceley didn’t convince you the other day, then maybe my review of her new book, Chastity is for Lovers, will get your interest.

Arleen writes,

For some people, the chaste life can raise a daunting question — a question a friend and fellow blogger brought up once in an interview: “Do you ever worry that one day you’ll wake up and discover you are forty-five, still single, and past your sexual prime?”

I don’t. In order to worry about that, I would need to believe the purpose of sex is pleasure and that we all better get some while the gettin’ is good. I don’t believe either of those things. I believe that whether a person ever has sex isn’t that important. What’s more important is why a person has sex, and in what context. But because I don’t worry about passing my sexual prime doesn’t mean I don’t worry at all. I do worry sometimes, but what I worry about is whether I write about this stuff with enough clarity. If I don’t, and a couple of decades from now I’m still a virgin, I’d guess many people who’ve read what I’ve written will call my single life “proof” that the chaste lifestyle doesn’t work. But the goal of saving sex isn’t marriage. The goal of saving sex is saving sex (not putting it off, but redeeming it). Some people who save sex get married and some don’t.

This is the kind of book that has me purchasing copies for nieces and reveling in the smartness of these awesome whippersnapper writers who blog and write with an abandon that gives me hope. Check it out.