In the 25th Psalm, the psalmist writes, “No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.”
Shame, hmm... Is this a viable term today?
For many years, “shame” was the taunt of racist, sexist, hetero-normative, cis-gender, or commercially-driven images of “normal” or even “perfection.” The phrase “Shame on you” rightly administered, perhaps, to a child who did some kind of willful misbehavior became “You should be ashamed” of someone who simply did not fit the manufactured mold of perfection. Too many lives have been crushed under the weight of the unwieldy accusation of “shame.”
Today, the tide has changed, at least with regard to explicit comments if not internal opinions. In the circles where I live, one is more likely to hear someone criticized for “body shaming” than for not fitting into the mold of perfection. The term “shame” has become associated with being judgmental. Curiously, it seems an acceptable form of shaming to shame someone for shaming someone else.
The psalmist invites us to remember an older, different way of thinking about shame. It is the feeling of guilt that one suffers when they have, in fact, committed wrongdoing. For the king of old or the politician of today who exploits their office for personal gain – shame! For the powerful to oppress another, the wealthy to exploit the poor, a caregiver to neglect the patient, a pastor/priest to harm young children – shame! It was a protest, the declaration that called out treachery and demanded justice. It relied on truth as its authorizing power, not power to create “truth.” And it meant something, but only in a world where one believes in justice that is rooted in the eternal.
There is both a need to set aside accusations of “shame” that are based on a manufactured mold of perfection; and a need to call out shameful behavior when it destroys life and community. Discerning the difference is part of the Lenten journey.
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