The eCrozier

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3

One of the highlights of my young adulthood was seeing the late James Brown in concert. If you never witnessed it, you missed something special. As the penultimate part of his act, Brown fell to his knees clutching the microphone in total exhaustion (after all, he was the “hardest working man in show business”). While on his knees, the show’s MC came over to him, gently placed Mr. Brown’s elaborate cape over his shoulders, and slowly helped him off stage. But before he exited, he threw off the cape, and returned to center stage for rousing finale. It was a magnificent display of conceit. One never knew if the conceit were real or just part of his act. I learned later that the professional “wrestler” Gorgeous George was the inspiration for this whole routine.

I retell this experience from my past knowing full well that as a bishop I now regularly wear similar elaborate capes (copes), just with different symbols on them (and minus the sequins). In the liturgy, those assisting me often will help me by placing the cope on my shoulders. They even hold the edges of my cope as I cense the altar. So I won’t engage in any criticism of the Godfather of Soul. He knew good liturgy when he saw it.

What has prompted this recollection is the new book by Nicco Mele, entitled, The End of Big: How the Internet Makes David the New Goliath. Mr. Mele is a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He contends that the Internet and social media have leveled the playing field, so to speak, and given power to the “Davids” of the world and reduced that of the “Goliaths.” He rightly points out that this is not always a good thing. The Internet and social media are amoral. They can be used for both moral and immoral purposes. They have certainly allowed certain “Davids” of the world to behave no better than the “Goliaths” they have criticized.

For example, this week a hacker hijacked the AP Twitter feed putting out false information about a bombing at the White House. This caused a steep drop in the stock market representing over $100 Billion in losses, temporarily. Bloggers regularly engage in ad hominem attacks on others seemingly to elevate themselves over the people they attack. Social media allows any of us to wear the cape (cope) of conceit, counting ourselves better than others. Social media does not encourage humility. It tempts us to say: “Here I am! Look at me! I am great! (and isn’t this video of the kitten funny?)” It’s an outlet many “Davids” of the world have not had heretofore, so they are making up for lost time.

As T.S. Eliot wrote: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” No one can know where all of this will take our culture. Wisdom, we must know, is found first in humility, a humility that reminds us that we aren’t better than others in God’s eyes, a humility that directs us to our knees before we are tempted to cast the first stone cloaked in the cape (cope) of conceit.

+Scott