During the first week of my walking the Via Francigena, two older women sensibly took trains to avoid the cold rain. Yet, they felt apologetic. They felt shame, not for a prior act before their pilgrimage, but for these actions during their pilgrimage. They had internalized a value judgment that “true” pilgrims only walk. Always. Only walk.

In the early 1300’s, Roger de Bonito murdered a bishop. His penitential punishment was to go on pilgrimage to several destinations including Rome. In this form of pilgrimage, the pilgrim was to carry publicly around their neck the murder weapon. Yikes! If the ecclesiastical court declared one a heretic, then one wore two yellow crosses, one in the front and one in the back. Bonito and others were always reminded of their past actions. They were to feel shame; others who saw them avoided and shamed them. While feeling the same personal moral disapproval, de Bonito and the two women lived in different worlds!

I remember reading forty-years ago Walter Donlan’s classic work on the aristocratic ideals of classical Greece. A professional historian and somewhat sociologist of morality, he described the values and codes of honor and shame. Fascinating! From Greece to Europe to the cultures of Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the MidEast, honor and shamed shaped people’s lives.

If living in the United States, we all know that we live in a fragmented society with no one underlying moral approach. But, shame was operative not long ago. In the 1930’s, I suspect that my father felt shame from a failed marriage. In the 1960’s, an uncle and aunt probably felt shame for their gay son. I never heard a conversation nor met his partner. And, a more distant extended family member was probably involved in a lesbian relationship.

Besides shame in the world of sexuality, shame could be politicized. I remembered several conversations with Chinese scholars. If I remember correctly, during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-mid1970’s, one had family members who were shamed, not only publicly ostracized, but who disappeared, probably killed. As a young person, one scholar had to publicly acknowledge his errors, and be “re-educated” until the Red Guard members overseeing him were satisfied that he had been reformed. Wow!

As one who recognizes societal shifts, as we seek to live morally in a more expressive culture, as we rightfully criticize the ways of living which often resulted in shame, I wonder. As I see the headlines, I wonder about “The Narcissistic One Who shall not be Named, but Who is Globally Known.” He should feel shame!

An ancient writer could not help but use the word shame in many contexts. “ I live in disgrace all day long, and my face is covered with shame.” A sense that something is not right. A sense that rather than being hidden, others see what the psalmist did and who the Psalmist was. A sense that shame may lead to change.

My two older pilgrims felt shame, for only a while fortunately. They realized that their pilgrimage was their own pilgrimage. They didn’t need to impose the expectations of others. They realized, as the days and miles of walking added up, that their own effort was still quite an effort. In other words, whatever the value of shame in some situations, they were given the gift of acceptance. Acceptance of what they were trying to achieve and what they had already achieved. A gift we all need at different times.