Healthy Shame

"Shame" in its original sense as a plain English word is merely the equivalent of words such as "modesty" or "humility", derived from the Romance languages. There are unhealthy forms of shame, for instance: feeling ashamed of one's ethnic origins or economic status, feeling ashamed of one's natural physiology. These forms of unwarranted shame are very common in our culture. But there is a healthy sort of shame that is strikingly absent, and it is to our harm: shame for showing disrespect or lack of consideration for the fellow members of our species. One can argue the point even without reference to religion: we can look at the examples of other animals (O, yes, we are animals too you know, and we should NOT be ashamed of that!). I could cite a myriad examples of how intelligent creatures look out for each other, to the degree that they will even, when necessary, engage in personal sacrifice. A person might say it's all instinct, but not if you witness it in action. There is something more there resisting the severity of the heartless universe. Bio-chemistry alone cannot construct a mind with the will to make and maintain something beautiful in the face of battering nature. Perhaps the strongest case for this argument can be found in the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica. I do not believe the story of its yearly cycle of survival and self-perpetuation can be better told than in the British documentary series, narrated by David Attenborough, called, Planet Earth. I advise you to buy this series or borrow it from your local library, for the profound story of this creature and many other forms of life. It will do your soul good. But getting back to this specific species of penguin, I will remark upon the implications of what I learned, and not spoil the story for you yourself to discover. Suffice it to say, this bird, this animal, this collection of special beings puts forth the most tremendous degree of cooperative effort despite grinding suffering at the hands of nature, and all for the sake of continuing its kind. There can be few other creatures who endure more than they. One might remark, how is it worth it to them? They must be too stupid to know any better! But then one observes the way they appreciate the payoff, the way they care for those young ones they miraculously bring forth and raise in one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth (but also the only place where they might exist). Their endurance of bitterest weather for months on end to incubate their eggs, and the way in which they collectively preserve each other's lives in the process of this incubation, is pure spiritual beauty. Their love of their hatchlings is equal to this preceding effort. To know what they pass through, to see the life they assert in the teeth of chaos, should shame any human being to the tender arches of their feet. Though our own kind is riddled with members who have been dealt with harshly by the genetic roll of the dice, we collectively as a species, are one of the most fortunate on this Earth. If we were to do a tenth of what the Emperor Penguins do for each other toward our fellow human beings, we might begin to be worthy of the gifts we have been dealt in our evolution.