Humility is one of those traits of good character we are told we need to cultivate, but our egalitarian society makes it almost impossible. It will be vital for a post-liberal world.
I upgraded for access after reading the first part of this, but your mic is having issues, when you say Punch, for example, my ears recieve one.
Loved the beginning of this article, so I sincerely hope you can fix your podcast audio issues and make it listenable.
A refreshing take either way, and something I have been struggling with, as a woman in a Christian context where I have a talent for singing, and people treat me like something else entirely because of it. Creates an existential crisis for me and a ton of uncomfortable situations. Grealy appreciated.
First of all, thank you ever so much for the subscription. It means the world to me to know my work has value. My apologies for the sound issues. I am on a steep learning curve with the audio processing and editing thing. It’s getting better, but it’s not there yet. Patience. I think I am close to getting it right.
Your experience as “the star” is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in the piece. How do embrace that role and the responsibilities that go with it. It reminds me of when I was in seminary and they sent us out to do practice preaching and told us not to correct people when they called us “pastor” as we would have to get used to it. Now that I am no longer in ministry, but still occasionally preach, people still call me “pastor” or “reverend” and I still have to embrace that role for a day again. It is something our egalitarian society ill prepares us to handle. We we are desperate need of a “nobility” worthy of the label.
Yes, when it comes to singing there is this star treatment you get which feels frankly disproportionately absurd. But it makes people deeply emotional on a very tangible level, and it is easy to wish to confer that to the performer in a show of gratitude. Still it is often tainted with a projection of their idea of what having a talent such as that would entail, so they assume I would want to tour the world or whatever or just do music all the time. I attend a Bible school and when we travel, I will perform. Everyone assumes I am pleased at the attention, when in reality the whole system deeply offends me precisely because of the aspect you observed: the lack of nobility and understanding of it.
One of the worst things I know is if after I perform a song, someone else will say "oh wow you're so good I am never singing that song again". Or "well I'm not gonna sing after that!!!" - and they deeply mean it. And the only reason this is an issue is because of this egalitarian phenomena, where this discrepancy in level is not acknowledged in any way that is coherent with egalitarianism and religion and it becomes a counter-intuitive minefield to navigate, especially for me, who is autistic as well. In my case I approach these things as "social algebra", seeking different formulations of response (in Norwegian the word formula and phrasing is the same so it makes more sense as a mathematical concept) and this one is exasperating put in a Christian context. When I was in the world it was difficult enough, but it was somehow clearer than in a modern, religious sense.
I am reminded of a Kierkegaardian sentiment: You cannot lie, and be humble at the same time.
I have been fretting over this topic of humility since I was a teenager, and this is the best I have encountered on the subject. Thank you so very much.
Thank you. I do think an essential part of nobility or being “the star player” is that it requires you to be conscious of the role you have been asked to fill. As a Christian we know it is God doing the asking. He has given the gifts and provided the opportunity now it is our journey to embrace who we are. It’s seems so counterintuitive in our egalitarian culture, but true nobility requires you to be aware of your nobility. Back again to Tolkien, this is why Aragorn is such a compelling figure. He resists the role for a long time. But in the end, he embraces who he is. What is interesting from the craft of the story, you are never given insight into his inner dialogue. The mystique of nobility is part of what makes him noble, that he is able to become the archetype. He in some ways become “more” because of this mystique. Whereas we want to pull people down. “He puts his pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us.” Instead of looking and saying, “If only I could be more like him.” In some ways we almost want people to pull us down (I find this is my struggle) so as to alleviate us of the burden of leadership/nobility/stardom. Our society is loath to raise up true leaders. Instead our “leadership training” is generally along the lines of how to build teams and be an egalitarian player coach, a dutiful technocratic hack.
Funnily absent from the idea of taking a seat at the lower end of the table, lest you be pushed from a higher spot as someone more notable enters the feast, is the condemnation of such an order in the first place. But then we have the condemnation of those who make this practice the norm for the rich people in the congregation. How does this compute?
Lovely perspective on Aragorn. As a reader I automatically read into it all of the things we have spoken about, and ascribe him much higher honor and humility and rightfulness of claim, since his reasons for rejecting it seem obvious to me, and an indicator of a high spirit. Never considered that we have no literal transcripts of his thoughts.
Yes. Few think about the notion today that much of the biblical teaching on humility was for a society which understood both hierarchy and the idea of fitting into a role, especially the larger metaphysical archetype roles.
And the lack of inner voice is in part how you know the story is not actually about Aragorn, it is about the Frodo. And the Shire. Too few pay attention to the significance of the Shire for the story. It is, in my mind, Tolkien’s vision of the best case scenario here on earth, a kind of pastoral stasis.
I upgraded for access after reading the first part of this, but your mic is having issues, when you say Punch, for example, my ears recieve one.
Loved the beginning of this article, so I sincerely hope you can fix your podcast audio issues and make it listenable.
A refreshing take either way, and something I have been struggling with, as a woman in a Christian context where I have a talent for singing, and people treat me like something else entirely because of it. Creates an existential crisis for me and a ton of uncomfortable situations. Grealy appreciated.
First of all, thank you ever so much for the subscription. It means the world to me to know my work has value. My apologies for the sound issues. I am on a steep learning curve with the audio processing and editing thing. It’s getting better, but it’s not there yet. Patience. I think I am close to getting it right.
Your experience as “the star” is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in the piece. How do embrace that role and the responsibilities that go with it. It reminds me of when I was in seminary and they sent us out to do practice preaching and told us not to correct people when they called us “pastor” as we would have to get used to it. Now that I am no longer in ministry, but still occasionally preach, people still call me “pastor” or “reverend” and I still have to embrace that role for a day again. It is something our egalitarian society ill prepares us to handle. We we are desperate need of a “nobility” worthy of the label.
Yes, when it comes to singing there is this star treatment you get which feels frankly disproportionately absurd. But it makes people deeply emotional on a very tangible level, and it is easy to wish to confer that to the performer in a show of gratitude. Still it is often tainted with a projection of their idea of what having a talent such as that would entail, so they assume I would want to tour the world or whatever or just do music all the time. I attend a Bible school and when we travel, I will perform. Everyone assumes I am pleased at the attention, when in reality the whole system deeply offends me precisely because of the aspect you observed: the lack of nobility and understanding of it.
One of the worst things I know is if after I perform a song, someone else will say "oh wow you're so good I am never singing that song again". Or "well I'm not gonna sing after that!!!" - and they deeply mean it. And the only reason this is an issue is because of this egalitarian phenomena, where this discrepancy in level is not acknowledged in any way that is coherent with egalitarianism and religion and it becomes a counter-intuitive minefield to navigate, especially for me, who is autistic as well. In my case I approach these things as "social algebra", seeking different formulations of response (in Norwegian the word formula and phrasing is the same so it makes more sense as a mathematical concept) and this one is exasperating put in a Christian context. When I was in the world it was difficult enough, but it was somehow clearer than in a modern, religious sense.
I am reminded of a Kierkegaardian sentiment: You cannot lie, and be humble at the same time.
I have been fretting over this topic of humility since I was a teenager, and this is the best I have encountered on the subject. Thank you so very much.
Thank you. I do think an essential part of nobility or being “the star player” is that it requires you to be conscious of the role you have been asked to fill. As a Christian we know it is God doing the asking. He has given the gifts and provided the opportunity now it is our journey to embrace who we are. It’s seems so counterintuitive in our egalitarian culture, but true nobility requires you to be aware of your nobility. Back again to Tolkien, this is why Aragorn is such a compelling figure. He resists the role for a long time. But in the end, he embraces who he is. What is interesting from the craft of the story, you are never given insight into his inner dialogue. The mystique of nobility is part of what makes him noble, that he is able to become the archetype. He in some ways become “more” because of this mystique. Whereas we want to pull people down. “He puts his pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us.” Instead of looking and saying, “If only I could be more like him.” In some ways we almost want people to pull us down (I find this is my struggle) so as to alleviate us of the burden of leadership/nobility/stardom. Our society is loath to raise up true leaders. Instead our “leadership training” is generally along the lines of how to build teams and be an egalitarian player coach, a dutiful technocratic hack.
Funnily absent from the idea of taking a seat at the lower end of the table, lest you be pushed from a higher spot as someone more notable enters the feast, is the condemnation of such an order in the first place. But then we have the condemnation of those who make this practice the norm for the rich people in the congregation. How does this compute?
Lovely perspective on Aragorn. As a reader I automatically read into it all of the things we have spoken about, and ascribe him much higher honor and humility and rightfulness of claim, since his reasons for rejecting it seem obvious to me, and an indicator of a high spirit. Never considered that we have no literal transcripts of his thoughts.
Yes. Few think about the notion today that much of the biblical teaching on humility was for a society which understood both hierarchy and the idea of fitting into a role, especially the larger metaphysical archetype roles.
And the lack of inner voice is in part how you know the story is not actually about Aragorn, it is about the Frodo. And the Shire. Too few pay attention to the significance of the Shire for the story. It is, in my mind, Tolkien’s vision of the best case scenario here on earth, a kind of pastoral stasis.