...since I'm currently buried in the midst of finals preparations and don't have time to write just for my own pleasure, I give you my Philosophical musings on Reverence. (Originally a paper written for my Philosophy of the Human Person class, taught by Dr. Jim Harold (Don't worry, I got an A))
The
Importance of Reverence in Personal and Modern Societal Life
The loss of reverence
is so complete in the society today that many people do not even know what the
word means. This loss has led to a rapid decline of respect, charity, and the
sense of value. In order for man to be in a right relation to the moral world,
he must: know what reverence is; how he can apply it to his life; how
society has lost a sense of it; what are its opposites and counterfeits; and what we can do to get back to a state of reverence. When a person learns how
to relate to the world through reverent eyes, they can truly love, they can be
truly charitable, generous, respectful, humble, and appreciative; they can
enter the world of moral values, which is to be valued over any earthly
pleasure. Reverence leads men to moral goodness, which is something everyone
should desire. A study of reverence will help to smooth the hard path to right
relation to the world, and ultimately a sharing in the wonders of heaven on
earth.
In order to fully
grasp the wonder and power of every realm in the world, be they physical,
personal, or spiritual, there needs to be a certain appreciation for them. We
can admire the beauty of a tree in the fall season, with all of its glorious
red, orange, or yellow hues; we can appreciate the face of a pretty woman; we
can smile at the pure innocence of a young child; but there needs to be
something more. There needs to be value that a person attaches to the realms.
We can appreciate the beauty of Niagara Falls, the magnificence of the Sistine
chapel, and the wonder of an opera, but when each of these holds value to a
person, each of these object demands a certain individual reverence. Reverence
is the way by which we can grasp not only the values of the physical world,
but, more importantly, the values of the moral world. Von Hildebrand, in his
work, Fundamental Moral Attitudes,
states that ‘Moral values are the highest among all natural values. Goodness,
purity, truthfulness, humility of man rank higher than genius, brilliancy,
exuberant vitality, higher than the beauty of nature or of art, higher than the
stability and power of a state.’1 Through reverence, one goes beyond
his individual sphere and enters the world of moral values. Through reverence,
we can enter the world of the spiritual. Reverence can bestow on mankind a
sense of mystery and right respect toward the world, which is the right
relation that man should have.
The reverent man has
a sense of the mystery of everything in the world, such as birth and death, and
everything in the spiritual realm, such as God. Man is only able to enter the
world of moral values by abandoning himself to and getting to know such genuine
values that can be found only through reverence. Reverence leads man to moral
goodness. ‘In proportion to man’s capacity to grasp values, in so far as he sees the
fullness of the world of values with a clear and fresh vision, in so far as his
abandonment to this world is pure and unconditional, he will be rich in moral
values. As long as a man blindly disregards the moral values of other persons,
as long as he does not distinguish the positive values which inheres in truth, and
the negative value which is proper to error, as long as he does not understand
the value which inheres in the life of man, and the negative value attached to
an injustice, he will be incapable of moral goodness. As long as he is only
interested in the question of whether something is subjectively satisfying or
not, whether it is agreeable to him or not, he cannot be morally good.’ 2 The
reverent man does not consider himself to be the most important being in the
world; he recognizes that there is so much value in every other being in the
world that he lets them speak to him. His appreciation and admiration for
people will only grow, and thus reverence is the basis for respect and love.
Without reverence, there can be no respect, and without respect there can be no
love. The reverent man understands the dignity and beauty of his partner, and
therefore can value her infinitely more, which leads to a deeper love than can
ever be experienced in the absence of reverence. Courtship, chastity, and
purity can all be accomplished within dating and even within marriage when a
man has reverence for his partner. A man who does not possess reverence cannot
partake of the spiritual dimensions of the world, such as love and faith, since
he cannot access the dimension of depth within the world. Unfortunately, modern
society has lost all sense of reverence, and all the benefits that come with
it.
The loss of
reverence in the world today has led to a shocking change unimaginable only
one-hundred years ago. It has led to complete superficiality with respect to
what the world values, especially with regard to persons. Modern men have
become totally and completely irreverent of each other, and there is no better
example of this than in music today. A completely revolting song called “Move,
B****, by Ludacris, illustrates this point beautifully. Filled with immature,
expletive-laced lyrics that should never
be repeated, the singer enters into a tirade: he is the best; everyone wants to
be him; anyone standing in his way will get hurt; everything in this man’s life
is filled with violence, sex, a need to act for his own pleasure, and a
through-the-roof ego. This song clearly goes against the very nature of a
reverent person: he is incapable of respect –of himself, as well as of other
people-, any kind of love, kindness, selflessness, patience, etc. Another clear
example is Katy Perry’s hit “Peacock.” With lyrics such as:
“Are
you brave enough to let me see your peacock?
Don't
be a chicken, boy, stop acting like a beeotch
I'ma
peace out if you don't give me the payoff
Come
on, baby, let me see what you're hiding underneath”,
the meaning behind the lyrics is sadly obvious. She
is completely, utterly, and totally incapable of love, since she has no respect
and reverence for the nature of the human body and the wonderful gift of sex.
The lack of
reverence leads to lives of lust, with actions like the song quite clearly
describes. The lustful man limits his interest to one thing and one thing only:
whether or not some experience will give him pleasure, and if it is of use to
him. The irreverent man also becomes impertinent: he thinks that he knows
everything, that there is nothing new to be discovered in the world. He cannot
see the simple beauty that true value and reverence brings, since he is so
wrapped up in his own selfish being. Like the Rolling Stones, they “can’t get
no satisfaction.” So, since this culture has lost all of the reverence it once
had, is there a way we get it back?
To re-introduce
reverence into the world is extremely hard to do, yet it is incredibly
necessary. There are many ways to build personal reverence, which eventually
leads to the buildup of a reverent society. One of the most important ways to
do this is to recognize once more the great wonder and mystery of sex, as an
expression of committed love. As previously stated, our society is sadly
lacking in reverence of this wonderful gift, and this has led to a rapid
decline in the value of people, objects, and the individual self. Once a person
can recognize how beautiful sex and the human body are, they will treat
themselves and others around them with due respect and reverence. The practices
of chastity, self-control, and prayer can help immensely to regain purity.
Another aspect of life that society has lost all reverence for are the
mysteries of the faith. God, the sacraments, and the Church are all bygone fads
that grandparents used to believe in. There needs to be a huge upsurge of interest
in the faith, because, contrary to what people believe, it is quite relevant.
However, without reverence we will never be able to enter the realm of the
spiritual.
The pressing need to
reverence is obvious. As was shown, reverence is the way that a person truly
learns to value. Reverence leads to a value of the physical wonders of the
world and a true value of persons. Man cannot be morally good without
reverence. The reverent man has a deep respect and correct distance towards
things in the physical and moral realms. Through a growing personal reverence
by means of chastity, faith, and respect, we can heal the gaping hole in our
society and bring it back into a world that can truly be called good.
- Dietrich von Hildebrand, Fundamental Moral Attitudes Essay 1. Reverence, pg 1.
- Essay: Reverence, Pg. 2.
