Thank you, Dr. Elizabeth Archambault, for the conversation starter.(“Don’t be hesitant to start the conversation about sex,” May 5). Let’s lay the full picture of sexuality before young people. Young friends know this: Love is central to sexuality. Lifelong engagement with one person will enrich you more than is imaginable. For the sake of your joy, do not settle for anything less.

Love calls us forth to escape ourselves, give ourselves, die to ourselves. Every sexual act is an encounter with ourselves, our partner and with the cosmos. By them we either grow closer to or further from nature — and, because nature won’t be reduced to mechanics, the Divine. When male and female conjoin, as world cultures across time attest, they image the Divine. Nature, by her very rules, breaks them: Two become one. In some cases, two become three. In any case, individuality is erased.

I’ve said nothing about the same-sex attracted, celibates, infertility sufferers and souls of different stripes. Traditions millennia old have encouraging approaches to the unique way you also may participate in the Divine image.

These thoughts come to mind when I read neutral definitions of human sexuality, such as Dr. Archambault’s three weeks ago, that healthy sexuality is about “consensual, respectful and informed” relationships. This is a start, and it is a definition relevant to her work in The DoVe Project (good work relevant to sexual violence certainly). However, using the vague language of law to teach eternal souls just learning about sexuality can be detrimental in its negativity. It can be a bit sterile, like granting them permission for science class, and they are the subjects. It would be a deprivation: like telling neighbors to love each other by not killing them. We can do so much more.

— Lauren Sheard