The path to human wholeness and love requires an embrace of sexuality and gender as powerful forces in human lives. This includes vigorous engagement with the life-giving and life-defying forces of sexual passion as that passion intersects with gendered identities and gendered social structures, thus opening doors for ethical reflection. The essay analyzes sexuality's power and complexity through the intensity of poetry, and it further explores the relationship between sexuality and spirituality in mystical literature. The goal is to identify pathways to celebrate sexuality, reflect and act ethically, and live into the promise of radical love.