Within the Christian tradition, idolatry occurs whenever one submits to the influence and shaping power (persuasive power -- the power that offers one an identity, that gives one a feeling of significance) of a source other than God, who is both love and truth.
As part of my seasonal Lenten spiritual reflections I've been thinking about idolatry and its root causes. This week I've been thinking about shame. Guilt happens when one knowingly does something wrong, or willfully refuses to do what one knows is right. The cure for guilt occurs as one makes amends and repairs the damage done. Guilt is healed through reconciliation. Shame, on the other hand, is about self-rejection. It is not about behaviors or attitudes, rather it is the conviction that I myself am wrong. It is the conviction that I am less than zero.
Shame is submission to a script written by others. It is an internal code that sets one up to serve obsessions or agendas of others. The coded script shapes one's identity as a less-than, as unworthy, as a loser. This burden of shame weighs one down in life, causes one to live removed from ecstasy, an unwillingness to be swept up into beauty. The shamed walk with head down, not noticing the sunshine and bright blue sky. The shamed seek punishment and rejection as proof of their less-than character. Often this is through overtly negative behavior such as public drunkenness, aggressive violent behavior, foul speech, and filthy appearance.
Sometimes the shamed become secretive and hidden, with addictions to porn or self punishments that literally inflict physical pain that proves oneself as an object of loathing. Shame carries a heavy spiritual cost as one feels unworthy of God, of friendship, and of love, thus continually rejecting and sabotaging all experiences of affection and grace. Most of the homeless I have met are plagued with shame.
If we as a community want to end homelessness, we will need to go beyond putting roofs over heads and food in bellies. Those acts of charity are great steps toward freedom, but they can take us only so far. We will need to go beyond political advocacy for more low-income housing or greater access to mental and physical health care. These are necessary and foundational, but they cannot complete the mandate and desire of justice.
Homelessness is healed as we integrate within our acts of charity and political advocacy the relational power of community. It is of utmost importance to cultivate a disposition of encouragement, an affection toward others, a willingness to accept the other, to listen and welcome the other, and, very important, to invite the other to simply be with you in various times, places and circumstances. It is, I think, friendship that heals shame, thus opening the door to a community of no more homelessness, only hospitality for all.