Posted by
KenUSA on Sunday, May 25, 2008 1:27:48 PM
On Dignity
God has made man from nothing. We are creatures made for a specific purpose. We can perform many tasks, which tend toward that ultimate purpose.
We have hands which can grasp, point, caress,strike, etc. Legs which can walk, run, climb, etc. These are attributes.
Dignity seems to be more of an ingredient than an attribute.
Dignity seems to have been granted in equal measure to all men. Although not everyone can perceive dignity, it is always there. This means that the perception of dignity is the sole responsibility of the observer.
To say that someone conducts himself with dignity implies that the person acting, perceives the dignity that God has placed within him, and acts accordingly. Conversely, when we say that a person acts in an undignified manner, we imply that the person does not perceive his inherent dignity. This means that we perceive the outward expression of a person’s inward relationship with their Creator.
With all that said, only one man is known to have seen and appreciated the dignity of all men perfectly. Many saints have demonstrated intimate familiarity with human dignity and should serve as models for those of us “who do not see”.
This means that we “have a beam in our own eye” and are incompetent to judge the worthiness of a person’s right actions until this beam is removed.
How do we remove this beam?
Humility is the proper tool for the job. Humility is to stand on God given dignity alone. Offering no defense for the handiwork of the Creator, no embarrassment for what we cannot do, no pride for what we can. Only from this point of simplicity is our own human dignity visible to ourselves.
With a real appreciation for what God has made we have no compulsion to be seen as more or nagging sense of being seen as less. Now that we are no longer competing for position, we can clearly see the dignity of our brothers.
We can see others as God sees them.