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Meditation 6

The Gift of Shame

And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

—Genesis 2:25

Where do you hunger for righteousness?

We have all seen it; at the beach, or lake, or perhaps the public pool—a toddler strips down to his or her bare essentials and struts with all the pride of a peacock with its train of feathers in full flare, not a care in the world, not a lick of shame. When I see this, frankly, I get a bit nostalgic, perhaps even a bit jealous. Living over half a century, I have plenty in my life about which I am ashamed. When I see a shame-less child, there is a part of me that wishes I could go back to that season of innocence.

We are told that God’s original intent was for us to live without shame; to have a footloose and carefree lightness to life that is not burdened by the companions of guilt and regret. Shame became the gift that kept on giving. Its value for us may be as a vehicle to God’s gift of forgiveness in response to our feelings of guilt and regret.

Without shame, we would not know when we have stepped out of line. Without guilt we would not know when we have hurt ourselves, or our loved ones. Without regret, we would trample all over the gift of life with our perpetual tendency (also known as original sin) to fall, stumble, and sin.

Mark Twain once quipped, “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to!” The only problem with Twain’s words is that men and women are not animals. They are beings created in the image of God. When we feel that divine “blush” come over us, it may very well be revealing that we have stripped ourselves bare in a way that we should not have. Toward that end, the gift of shame invites us toward one of Jesus’s most beautiful of promises, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

So when you see that young one toddling away, perhaps diaper in hand, and you get that internal nudge just to go back to a day without shame, take it not so much as condemnation, but as a road sign, pointing you to the One who can fill you when you are hungry to do the right thing.

A Bit of Heaven

Where, in your life, do you hunger for righteousness? In what ways are you feeding that hunger? Will you let God do that for you?

A Prayer

O good Jesu, word of the Father, the brightness of the Father’s glory, Whom angels desire to behold; teach us to do Your will; that guided by Your good Spirit, we may come to that blessed city where there is everlasting day and all are of one spirit; where there is certain security and secure eternity and eternal tranquility and quiet felicity and happy sweetness and sweet pleasantness; where You, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, are alive and reign, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

—St. Gregory, Bishop of Sicily, d. 628