Order in Narnia
One of the best things about Narnia is that it defends hierarchy. Peter and the children recognize their betters, including the Lord of Narnia Aslan, but do not feel demeaned by it. In fact, they are able to be thankful and have appropriate desires because they know their place. We cannot hear this term without thinking of demeaning demands for submission from those who have no right to demand it. However, we now infected with the opposite disease.
We frequently fantasize that we are the equals of the leaders of different fields of cultural endeavors. As a native of West Virginia, I have great respect for the common man and for folk culture. The folk, my folk, are very strong and are the backbone of the nation. However, we need not fantasize that the home made quilt is the artistic equal of the Renaissance painting to enjoy its homely beauty. In fact, we demean it by making the unfair comparison. As a member of the commons, I delight that there exist the wealthy, the powerful, and the very gifted.
I am happy blogging gives power to the folk, but do not expect (or even hope to see) the end of all elites. Natural elites based on God given gifts are to be celebrated and not resented. They are (after all) my betters in role and abilities, but they are not better men! Sainthood is, after all, the one great role open to all!
Americans frequently confuse our equality of personhood with equality of function. As the Declaration makes plain, building on the Biblical world-view, all men (persons) are created equal. There are some rights that one has simply as a human being because God has given them to every person. The Declaration lists the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of private property.
This does not imply that all persons have the same roles. My bishop has no greater right to life than I, but in the order of Christendom he is a better man. I owe him my allegiance on issues ecclesiastical. Without being his inferior (as a man), I bow the need to him as my superior in the church. In the same way, if the President were to come to Torrey, I would have to recognize his superior status. I must honor him as President because in the order of American politics, he is my better. Even for him to speak to me is an act of condescension.
The old word condescension has only bad meanings today. We think of it as what a snob does, but it did not always mean only this. It is also a useful word for when a person who really is superior (functionally) graces a lesser person with undeserved favor. When Dr. Cook speaks kindly to a faculty member at a party where he is acting as President of the University, this is a gracious act of condescension.
During a Super Bowl party, I once had a chance to meet Bart Starr, the great quarterback on the championship Packers teams of the sixties. Now in the world of football it would be impossible to find a lower ranking person than I. It would be hard to find a greater individual than the Hall of Fame quarterback that I desired to meet. There was certainly nothing about my role or status that should have led me to expect kindness and personal attention from Mr. Starr. Of course, he owed my common human dignity, but he did not owe me a conversation or an autograph. He gave me both and I was thrilled with his condescension. To speak to me was to lower himself (functionally) and to elevate (for a moment) me by his attention. I was grateful for his attention for it was not owed, but freely given by a man who turned out not to be just a great football player, but a gentleman.
How much we miss in our culture by failing to understand this distinction! As a dad, I am not better than my children as a person. They have the right to always be treated with the dignity due every human. On the other hand, as their dad, I will always be entitled to a certain respect and honor. Of course, the age of obedience soon passes, but there will always remain the role of aging patriarch which my own Father now fills. May he continue to fill it for many years! When Dad condescends to share his wisdom with me in a kindly way, I am blessed. When he gives me good gifts, I am thankful. He owes me nothing at this point and all that he gives me is a super-abundance of blessing.
I think we fail to enjoy so many blessings, because this confusion makes us view all of these blessings as our right. We demand and so are not able to enjoy what is, after all, merely our due. The man who knows he does not deserve what he is given can rejoice in it, but though a man is glad to get his wages he is not thankful for them. He deserves his pay, receives it, but nobody is thrilled with mere virtue!
The divine condescension of the manger is the best example, of course, of the undeserved gift. We did not deserve what God did for us and yet He did it. We can only enjoy it when the full glory of being able to commune with God hits us. He speaks to us, reveals Himself to us, and allows us to know things about the Unknowable! Glory! It is greater condescension than if the President were to become a worm to reveal the glories of Western civilization to those that live burrowing in the earth.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
We frequently fantasize that we are the equals of the leaders of different fields of cultural endeavors. As a native of West Virginia, I have great respect for the common man and for folk culture. The folk, my folk, are very strong and are the backbone of the nation. However, we need not fantasize that the home made quilt is the artistic equal of the Renaissance painting to enjoy its homely beauty. In fact, we demean it by making the unfair comparison. As a member of the commons, I delight that there exist the wealthy, the powerful, and the very gifted.
I am happy blogging gives power to the folk, but do not expect (or even hope to see) the end of all elites. Natural elites based on God given gifts are to be celebrated and not resented. They are (after all) my betters in role and abilities, but they are not better men! Sainthood is, after all, the one great role open to all!
Americans frequently confuse our equality of personhood with equality of function. As the Declaration makes plain, building on the Biblical world-view, all men (persons) are created equal. There are some rights that one has simply as a human being because God has given them to every person. The Declaration lists the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of private property.
This does not imply that all persons have the same roles. My bishop has no greater right to life than I, but in the order of Christendom he is a better man. I owe him my allegiance on issues ecclesiastical. Without being his inferior (as a man), I bow the need to him as my superior in the church. In the same way, if the President were to come to Torrey, I would have to recognize his superior status. I must honor him as President because in the order of American politics, he is my better. Even for him to speak to me is an act of condescension.
The old word condescension has only bad meanings today. We think of it as what a snob does, but it did not always mean only this. It is also a useful word for when a person who really is superior (functionally) graces a lesser person with undeserved favor. When Dr. Cook speaks kindly to a faculty member at a party where he is acting as President of the University, this is a gracious act of condescension.
During a Super Bowl party, I once had a chance to meet Bart Starr, the great quarterback on the championship Packers teams of the sixties. Now in the world of football it would be impossible to find a lower ranking person than I. It would be hard to find a greater individual than the Hall of Fame quarterback that I desired to meet. There was certainly nothing about my role or status that should have led me to expect kindness and personal attention from Mr. Starr. Of course, he owed my common human dignity, but he did not owe me a conversation or an autograph. He gave me both and I was thrilled with his condescension. To speak to me was to lower himself (functionally) and to elevate (for a moment) me by his attention. I was grateful for his attention for it was not owed, but freely given by a man who turned out not to be just a great football player, but a gentleman.
How much we miss in our culture by failing to understand this distinction! As a dad, I am not better than my children as a person. They have the right to always be treated with the dignity due every human. On the other hand, as their dad, I will always be entitled to a certain respect and honor. Of course, the age of obedience soon passes, but there will always remain the role of aging patriarch which my own Father now fills. May he continue to fill it for many years! When Dad condescends to share his wisdom with me in a kindly way, I am blessed. When he gives me good gifts, I am thankful. He owes me nothing at this point and all that he gives me is a super-abundance of blessing.
I think we fail to enjoy so many blessings, because this confusion makes us view all of these blessings as our right. We demand and so are not able to enjoy what is, after all, merely our due. The man who knows he does not deserve what he is given can rejoice in it, but though a man is glad to get his wages he is not thankful for them. He deserves his pay, receives it, but nobody is thrilled with mere virtue!
The divine condescension of the manger is the best example, of course, of the undeserved gift. We did not deserve what God did for us and yet He did it. We can only enjoy it when the full glory of being able to commune with God hits us. He speaks to us, reveals Himself to us, and allows us to know things about the Unknowable! Glory! It is greater condescension than if the President were to become a worm to reveal the glories of Western civilization to those that live burrowing in the earth.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
posted by The Shark at
2:02 PM
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