Shame

one

Realizing they were naked

The first effect of the original sin of man and woman was that “their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked.” Once they realize that they are naked, they are ashamed and they do two things: First, they make clothing out of fig-leaves. Secondly, they hide from God in the bushes.

What does all this mean? Why would sin make you need clothes? And why would realizing you were naked make you try to hide from God?

two

Shame and Reduction

St. John Paul II says that shame is the response we feel at the though that others are reducing us – in other words, seeing us for less than we really are. That’s why teens are sometimes embarrassed to be seen in public with their families – because they don’t want people to think of them as just one of those “Smith kids.” It’s why we might be ashamed of letting people we don’t know very well see certain defects in our house, or our appearance, or our manners – because they might think of us just in terms of those defects. And it’s why a person would – and should – be embarrassed to walk down the street without enough clothes on; because people would only see your body, they would only be thinking about your body. And that would mean seeing you for less than you really are.

The most immediate most basic effect of sin, is that it causes you to look at other people and see less than their full goodness, beauty, worth. You only see certain aspects of people. Maybe you only see the bad parts, or the parts that threaten you, or the parts that you can exploit. That is to reduce the other person to less than they really are – and it is the basic source of shame and embarrassment.

three

Sexual shame

Probably the most vivid and obvious place where reduction and shame happen in human life is in the area of sexuality. This is an area where if too much of the body is shown, it naturally triggers the animal impulses of the opposite sex (usually men) and makes it harder to think clearly and to consider the full humanity – the intellect, the will, the eternal destiny – of the other person.

Before the fall, the man and the woman were naked and unashamed – because the other person’s soul was perfectly balanced and calibrated, which meant that one was not tempted to reduce the other to simply an object, simply a body, simply a vehicle for physical or psychological catharsis.

But now – now our sexuality has become a source of endless temptation and complication, and both men and women have to battle constantly to appreciate the full humanity of both ourselves and other people.

four

Cosmic Shame

Sexuality, though, isn’t the only way we become reduced in the sight of other people. We are now vulnerable to other people seeing us, treating us, as less than we are in all kinds of ways. In fact, a 2011 study showed that, whether you feel any sexual attraction to the other person or not, the more of another person’s body you see, the less intelligent you’re likely to think that person is.[1]

In other words, the more you focus on another person’s body, the harder it will be to appreciate the other person’s soul. In fact, an enormous amount of our lives is spent being evaluated by material, quantifiable, physical metrics. So many people see us as less than we are. All they look at is our test scores, our incomes or our weight or our fitness level. The entire world of online retail and data collection basically just treats us as a number, a bunch of stats involving browsing and purchase history in order to get our money.

But we’re more than that! We’re more than consumers and earners and performers. We’re more than physical, material, measurable outcomes. We’re children of God. We have infinite value, immeasurable worth, immortal souls, eternal destinies. And any system that reduces us to less than that – it’s shameful.

[1] “More than a body: mind perception and the nature of objectification”

five

God and Human Dignity

Adam and Eve, when they realized all the ways they could be objectified and reduced, not only put on clothes – they hid in the bushes. But they hid from the wrong Person. Because God never sees us as less than we are. Never sees us as just bodies, or just quantifiable metrics. He never even sees us as just sinners.

He sees us as His Children. He covers the nakedness and the shame that goes with it. That’s why He gave Adam and Eve thicker, stronger clothes made out of animal skins. Because He is the one who reinforces and ensures our dignity.

Once there was a naked demoniac terrorizing the area known as the Gadarenes. Jesus freed the man from the devil, and the next time we see him, he is “clothed, and in his right mind.” Jesus gave him his dignity back.

That’s the point of all of this. Sin leads to shame and to shameful behavior and to shameful ways of thinking about yourself and about others. But God sees you for what you are. He sees your goodness, and your potential for greatness.

He will show you that goodness. He will restore you to that greatness. He will give you your dignity back.

So, how do we look at the people around us? How do we reduce them to less than who they are? Just a body; just an employee; the person who wronged me; someone who hurt me. Or have we become so familiar with a spouse, a parent, a co-worker that we take them for granted and treat them as less than they are?

Let’s change the way we look at people today. Make your first evaluation of them be: son of God; daughter of God. Then you will see more to them.