If I had to describe my experience in Singapore, undergoing TOB formation ("what TOB?" you may ask. Read on and you’ll see what it is about) for leaders in one word, then I would say ‘Beautiful’. Even then, I am utterly aware and convinced that such a word fails miserably to describe the journey of not just loving God but to also know Him and His plans in a greater depth and wider perspective.

So here’s an article inspired by one of the learning from TOB.

I read the papers these days and the concurring theme has been the smearing of human dignity (Uh? Some may ask. Follow on and you’ll see what I’m talking about). Abortion, murder, rape, violence! Just the mention of these words brings back to my mind the many news and stories in which humans have suffered incredibly due to the action of another human.

What can drive someone to act in such cruelty, hatred and disrespect to another human?
I asked myself this question so very often, and I was disheartened and perplexed because I couldn’t find the answer. My mind was unable to grasp a reason rational enough to explain how one human can chop up the body of another human and pack him up, or how another human can slit the throat of a 13-year-old and leave him to bleed to death in his bed, how can one leave the body of a precious innocent child dead and in the trash. All these baffled me until my eyes were opened to see that perhaps these incidents are rooted in the fact that we are failing or sometimes, forgetting to recognise the dignity of our fellow human brother/sister.

If you take some quiet time to really think about it, you might come to realise that deep within our core, there is this knowledge that recognises the dignity within ourselves and those around us. If we contemplate on it, there is this understanding within ourselves that we are a special and dignified creation of God, a knowing that was not taught or instilled by anyone but one that was already engraved in our souls as we entered the world. The spirit is aware of so many more things than the mind is, and without getting in touch with that spirit, we may miss many of the mysteries of our origin, our presence and our intended future.

Recognising the dignity within ourselves and those around us. How would that look like?

How that would look like is, me looking at myself and others, seeing us in the totality we were created in. I see the spirit that resides within others, the same spirit that also resides within me, making us brethrens despite of our cultural differences. That we are connected through our origins.

Recognising the dignity of the person would mean that I see them in the same Love God created them in, the effort He put in defining every being of their person and I recognise the gift of God’s love that they are offering me through the existence of their human person. To recognise the dignity of the human person would mean that I recognise the God in them and His love that is reflected through them.

It also means that I do not view them in parts (as pornography does). I am not to divorce the spirit from its body and view the human person as just a body. I am not to divorce the mind from its body and view the person as only a mind or a body. I am able to recognise the dignity and beauty of a human person only when I view them in totality of the three elements and maybe even more. I am not to look at a man or a woman as simply being assets. I am not to view a man or woman only by his body parts. The saddest would be when I fail to view my own self in the dignity I was created in, when I start to view my own self in parts or as assets. Similarly, the greatest tragedy for me would be when those around me, fail to recognise the dignity within their own self. This can be reflected from what we think of ourselves, how we dress, how we treat our body etc.

Perhaps, some of us may defend ourselves and say, ‘Hey, I’m just appreciating physical beauty’.
Beauty is viewed in the totality of the person. We recognise physical beauty by also recognising the inner beauty that shines within it.

‘Hey, just because I view pornography or divorce the spirit, mind and body of the person from each other, doesn’t mean I’ll become a rapist or a murderer’.
I start small, it’ll end big. A habit starts with one small action, then it increases in frequency, then it becomes an addiction, perhaps even part of the character. Furthermore, the society experience the additive effect of all our characters and choices put together. I contribute 20 marks of sin, another may contribute 60 marks of sin, another perhaps 5 marks of sin, another 100 marks of sin. At the end of the day, there is still 185 marks worth of sin lingering in the world, affecting it as a whole. Everything I do contribute not only to how it affects me but also to how it affects everyone else on earth. Every single human person on earth is connected to the other as we belong to One body of God, created in His image and likeness. How then, can my actions be divorced from affecting the others who belong to the Body?

‘Hey, I’m far better than many other people. I don’t do the extreme things. I may judge someone solely based on their body, but I’m not sleeping around, or disrespecting persons in my speech or my actions’.
What makes me good is not that I am better than another but that I am good. It is an objective matter, not subjective or relative. Besides, disrespecting someone is not just confined to our speech or actions, it also extends to our thoughts. I can disrespect someone by the kind of thoughts and images I have of them. When I lust after someone, even for a split second, viewing them as an object to satisfy my desires, I disrespect the person and the dignity within them.

‘This is a nonsensical, idealistic and condemning message or belief.’

It is nonsensical? No, it’s not. It makes perfect sense. Think about it. Honestly.

Idealistic? Yes, it is. Realistically idealistic. Possible in every sense of its word. I am not saying it is easy. No one said it is going to be easy. The best things in life come with a lot of hardwork, except perhaps the Love of God for us.

Condemning? No. This is where most of us can be wrong. Such a message and calling is not here to condemn us and subject us to hell. It is a message of hope, reminding us of who we really are and how we are called to recognise and practise that here on earth. It is a message of Love from the Creator, who recognises the diamond we are, albeit being covered by mud and dirt, to allow Him to clean and shape us into that diamond.

So, dear fellow human brethrens, Hear the calling. Recognise your Dignity. And the Dignity of those around you.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to have a glimpse of Your greater calling for us, humans. :)

*Footnote: TOB refers to the Theology of the Body, writings of Pope John Paul II, that talks about the mysteries of God’s plan that can be revealed through the human body.