Picture in your mind a carpenter, who makes his living building houses. One of his most useful tools is his hammer. With it, he creates homes of beauty and enduring value, shelter for others, and makes a valuable contribution to the world.

Imagine that one day his three-year-old son gets his hands on his father's hammer. He has no idea what it is FOR, but he likes the weight, the feel of it, and promptly begins using it to smash his toys. Living fully in the NOW, he does not look to the future, does not realize that his toys will not be there to play with tomorrow, he is HAPPY swinging the hammer NOW.

Does his use of the hammer to destroy his toys make the hammer BAD???? Of course not!!!!

Does his use of the hammer to destroy his toys make the little BOY bad??? Of course not!!!!

The little boy is merely ignorant of the REAL intended use of the hammer, and so he uses it in a way that gives him pleasure. His FATHER knows its intended use, and tries to TEACH him, but would never JUDGE his son for using it mistakenly.

It is also that way with ALL the things of the material world. ALL are intended for the fulfillment of our JOY as the children of God. However, like the three-year-old, we may not KNOW their intended use, and therefore mistakenly use them purely for our pleasure. And like the little boy, that doesn't make them, or us, bad for using them in this fashion.

One of, if not THE, most misused "hammers" today is sex. God's gift, the "tool" He gave us to seek and find our complete union (see Sex), our most loving creation and contribution to the world, is also our greatest possible physical pleasure and JOY. It is intended to first attract us to another, then to overcome our barriers (see Steps) until we can reach a state of total physical openness with each other, a symbol of our sharing of One Mind. It is also a total harmony WITHIN ourselves, for at that moment of joining, we are only aware of ONE self rather than four (see Selves).

Because that "hammer" is such FUN, we see only the pleasure of the moment in it, and seek only that. Unknowingly, we use it to dominate, subjugate and manipulate others. But we are NOT merely three-year-olds, for we have an inner KNOWING of its real intended use, and who we really are. Our conscience gently tells us that we are using it wrongly, but we try to ignore our Father's teaching, then judge ourselves for not heeding that inner voice. Sex then becomes a source of guilt and shame, keeping us FROM our wholeness rather than drawing us TO our true Self.

But love IS acceptance, forgiveness of our human mistakes. As we learn to forgive others, we learn to forgive ourselves, and eventually MUST arrive at the only destination we have, knowing that LOVE, IS.