Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything. - St Gregory of Nyssa

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Shame

A thoughtful and insightful article from Pravmir, by Archpriest Stephen Freeman.


Several years back I stumbled on a book about the sin of envy. I was struck by what I read and realized that I had never heard a sermon on the topic (nor preached one). Though a number of the Fathers cite envy as the first and greatest sin, it never seemed to come up as a spiritual topic. I also realized that it was almost never mentioned in confession. A strange sin – perhaps the greatest and yet held in secret.

Over the course of the last year, a number of things have introduced me to the topic of shame. I have explored its role in my own life and become far more aware of its almost ubiquitous presence in our culture. It is recorded as the first human response to sin – they hid themselves. However, I again noted that I had rarely heard the subject discussed and did not find it to be a topic that arose in confession. A strange emotion – perhaps the oldest human emotion – universal – and almost never discussed.

As they say, read the whole thing.
I wonder how many sins are rooted in shame? "The sins of the father is visited upon the sons..."


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