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                                                  DECLARATIONS OF DIGNITY


When I thought about writing this blog about dignity I thought it might be a good idea to check out Webster's to get an official working definition.  It offers three uses of the word: the first refers to "the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed;" the second refers to one of "high rank, office or position;" the third, to a posture of "formal reserve of manner, language, or appearance."  I am glad I decided to check it out; it affirms much of what I believe.

Dignity is inherent to being human.  It is not something that is "up for grabs," even though we live in a world that often behaves in such a manner.  We often think, feel or choose to behave in ways that would deny the dignity of another; we use our dignity to attempt to un-dignify another. We only need listen to the news or observe those in our own worlds to confirm this increasing reality in these tumultuous times.  The injustices of our day are assaults against the dignity of others.

To treat others with dignity is to respect what it means for them to be human.  We do not have to like or agree with how they have chosen to live out their dignity but it is important that we respect their right to do so and to live with the consequences of the same.  This is where it often gets very messy to navigate those waters well rather than ending up adrift ourselves.  That is why we need plumb lines in our lives to anchor and center our lives.

I have often wished I could have grown up in a world where it was easy to embrace a belief system.  I felt a lot of shame for not having such an opportunity.  That shame left me feeling defective, less than, "behind" others who just seemed to know what they believed.  It did not appear to be a struggle for them.  I felt like I was wrestling so hard to come to terms with what they just seemed to reach out and believe. As a nineteen year old university student, I knew I was wrestling with existential issues that would shape the course of my life and that it would not come without a price.

I was at a crisis point and needed to decide what I was going to believe and trust, be it philosophical, spiritual, or what. The struggle was so fierce I almost died. The forces pulling on my life were pulling in diametrically opposed directions and threatened my very existence.  I felt it inside and the doctors were confirming it at my bedside.  I ended up in three hospitals and in an unconscious state in an intensive care unit before it was over.  Perhaps one day I will tell that story.

For this purpose suffice it to say I needed to figure out what was going to be my plumb line, the anchor at the center of my belief system. I needed that plumb line to be and increasingly become the object of my faith. I knew it was not going to happen for me apart from a total commitment to a path and a life long journey. Part of the difficulty for me was that it has never been enough for me to just know what I believe, I have always wrestled with why I believe what I believe. 

In the final analysis I know I believe what I do because I have chosen to believe in response to what is at work on and in me. Today, I am glad that I have wrestled through the issues along the way, in figuring out what I believe.  I know I will continue to do so as I live out my life. I have watched others who have chosen what they belief and then hit a crisis and need to figure out what that means; sometimes it damages or nearly destroys either their ability to believe or their belief system itself. Sometimes it merely refines the beliefs they already hold to be true. These are different journeys, not right and wrong ones.  One is not necessarily logically prior.

Needless to say, I felt the full weight at nineteen of choosing my plumb line, external and internal.  I feared being deceived, choosing the wrong one and living with the consequences of it.  I needed to figure out what I believed and why I believed it. In the final analysis what was going to be my ultimate authority?  What was going to be the compass that would keep me from ever going too far adrift?  What was going to anchor me from the outside and center me from the inside on my life journey? 

These are weighty matters that deserve our full attention and consideration.  Have you answered them for your own life?

Until next time . . . this is, Just Janice!