-- Sacred Shame --

John Herlihy

When we hear the word shame,

Our mentality listens with scorn.

Far too sophisticated, we blame

Anyone who so suffers, forlorn.

Being not good enough, shy, weak,

The shame confirms that this is so.

In social settings, some feel meek;

So, to some places, they never go.

The trend now is to feel no shame;

I am free to do whatever I may want.

What right for others me to blame?

Bold, assertive, who we are we flaunt.

Things we never do in front of others;

A sense of shame bad actions prevent.

Lying or cheating against our brothers,

When done in secret are freely spent.

Shame often perceived as a sensation.

Who doesn’t feel shame when naked?

Yet this can highlight a keen intuition,

Elevating shame into a thing sacred.

Natural shame can make itself known,

Vital part of our humanity, as instinct.

Not shame, head in the sand unknown,

Shame to bring awareness to the brink.

The key to shame’s door in presence

We perform shameful things in secret

What makes the heart bolder? Absence!

To do things, no one would ever see it.

Yet shame can find its rightful place,

To see shame’s virtue is to find a way.

To see the outline of shame’s true face,

Traced into actions that forever stay.

Sacred shame of blooming sunflowers

Giving praise with an open, devoted face

Following progress of the sun’s powers

In return, bestowed with their living grace

We are told that a Supreme Being exists;

All that we need to do is simply believe.

Yet, a nagging doubt arises and persists,

A forgetfulness of truth there to deceive.

Worship God as if we could see Him,

Bringing us forever into His presence.

If we see Him, we know He will see us,

Shame will turn into a sacred reticence.

Whereas shame once held reign in public,

A hesitation that one’s secret be betrayed.

Now shame can hold reign also in private,

Aa of delight in secret wrong-doing waylaid.

Shame elevated into a companion and friend;

Everything we say and do clear for all to see.

In this way, truth shines as reality in the end,

Sacred shame as a living reality that sets free.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 23 October 2021