Sometimes, its seems, God works in mysterious ways. For example, although the extensive media coverage given to our President's escapades has been distasteful to many, the exposure may, help us to get over our immature fascination with the male sex organ.

Good timing, since with the release of the drug Viagra and all the stories about it, erectile dysfunction, the male malady which often accompanies aging, disease, and the use of many common medications, has taken over public consciousness.

Its no surprise that the new wonder pill, has generated such a pharmaceutical frenzy for it offers 30 million men their first, truly, effective and easy to take treatment for impotency.

Unfortunately, many of the reports about Viagra have focused only on the physical aspects of the drug and thereby missed the larger picture. As a psychotherapist and a pastor, I would like to offer some observations concerning the emotional, social and spiritual implications of this medical breakthrough.

1) From a psychological point of view, the implications of the new treatment are revolutionary for two reasons. First, old treatments were either surgical and unsatisfactory, or involved injecting the penis with a needle or the urethra with a suppository. Viagra simply requires swallowing a pill.

Beyond ease of use, the treatment is effective for most of the causes of impotency including common diseases, the side effects of medications, and even from surgical procedures used in treating the prostate. Viagra not only changes the treatment for impotency, it all but eliminates it.

Further, it may revolutionize male and female sexuality by not only eliminating a major obstacle to sexual relations but also by greatly extending our expectations for having sex ... not simply into our advanced years but through out our whole life, health permitting. Sex will not simply be something associated with the young or even middle aged but the old and very old as well.

While this has always been true for those who were lucky enough to be blessed with great health, the new medication opens the possibility for countless others.

2) From a cultural view, Viagra is another step in the process of the technological emancipation of sex from its biological limits. The last time we faced a revolution of this magnitude was with the introduction of the birth control pill in the' 60's.

Without the fact, or even, fear of failure, couples who have been riddled with anxiety have one less obstacle to deal with.

What is more exciting, by removing some of the physical limitations of disease and aging science allows our experience of sexuality to open to new and deeper levels of meaning. When its meaning is not restricted to the function of procreation, or even pleasurable sensation, there is an opportunity to experience a new level of intimacy and communication between partners.

3) Theologically, while some have suggested that it is a mistake to meddle with our physical limitations or to extend our sexual capacity. By doing so, some say that we may condemn men to an endless, adolescent search for sex when, in their later years, they should be spending their time considering more important things like their mortality and death.

Of course religious complaints against science go back to the beginnings of medicine. And while adolescent sexuality is an avoidance of spiritual issues I believe a mature sexuality is, indeed, profoundly spiritual at its root.

The medical technologies which allow us to live and have sex longer need not simply extend our lives, giving us just more of the same. The treatment makes possible a new reality heretofore, unhoped for and also exposes the fact that we have given little attention to the meaning of sex in later life.

I would also add that this liberation poses a challenge for theologians who have never, adequately, considered the significance of sex apart from its relation to child bearing. To do so reveals that the physical union of bodies and the emotional melding of minds may be understood and experienced as a sacred ritual wherein there is an overcoming of the fundamental separation and estrangement which is part of the human condition.

4) While I believe great things are possible because of Viagra , I do not believe the pill is magic or that the maturation of our view of sexuality or a deepened spiritual appreciation of sex will be automatic. Any significant growth requires work and men will need to overcome many of their psychological fears and irrational beliefs about sex and intimacy.

This will not be easy for the penis, unlike the clitoris, is not only the source of pleasure and joy, but also shame and failure. Maturity and self esteem will be needed for a more enlightened and enriched understanding and experience of sex to emerge. Perhaps the promise of and extended sex life will be an incentive for men to take up the challenge to learn.

While is Viagra is not a miracle in a bottle, its significance needn't be underestimated either. Perhaps because of all of the attention it has attracted, people will be encouraged to seek help. And while simply being able to have sex is not a guarantee for intimacy, it may serve as an important first step which will lead couples to talk to one another or even to go to therapy, if necessary. With improved communication, deeper, and more complex issues can be resolved. All in all, Viagra is a breakthrough which offers us an opportunity that will be up to us to fulfill.