Oct 03 2008
Showing Submission to the Supernatural: Bowing Down in Body and Spirit
How do the devout show commitment to their god? They frequently do it through acts of humility and service to others. (35) They demonstrate that they know they are not above. For there is only One above.
More specifically, there are many small actions that can signal subordinate status and subservience. Consider this observation from the vanguard primatologist, Jane Goodall.
“When Mike arrives in any group the other [individuals] invariably hurry to pay their respects, touching him with out-stretched hands or bowing, just as courtiers once bowed before their king. And, just as the king chose either to acknowledge a courtier or to ignore him, so Mike may take notice of his inferiors, touching them briefly, or he may do nothing.” (36)
The original text reads “chimps” where I have inserted “individuals.” Yes, Mike was a chimpanzee, a primate of a different variety. But what our kind and chimpanzees share is an interest in forming and functioning within hierarchical relationships – as is the central theme of this project.
God is great. Humans, lesser. It seems that even the concept of “original sin” is aimed at putting people in their place. The social emotions of guilt and shame endow us with the feeling of being lesser and the impulse to show contrition.
One of the Indian Vedic writings, the Bhagavad Gita, contains this verse:
“You are the Supreme Lord, to be worshiped by every living being. Thus I fall down to offer You my respects and ask Your mercy. Please tolerate the wrongs that I may have done to You and bear with me as a father with his son.” 11:44 (37)
The Abrahamic religions, too, are rife with similar statements of relative position and the behaviors and emotions expected to accompany them. In the domains of royalty and religion we find explicit evidence of the above/below relationship, and the behaviors that maintain them. In his essay, “Non-Verbal Communication in Human Social Interaction,” Michael Argyle explains that while sitting and standing are ambiguous positions, kneeling and prostration clearly manifest a recognition of a relatively lowly status. (38)
What follows are select Bible verses that reflect the theme of bowing down, of accepting one’s lowly place in a naturarl/supernatural hierarchy.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3-4)
Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes. (Genesis 18:27)
Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. (Daniel 3:6)
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool. (Psalms 99:5)
Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; [My sacrifice, O God, is ] a broken and contrite heart. (Psalms 51:17)
Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 6:6)
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.” (1 Kings 21:28-29)
Relevantly, I think, it has been observed that co-mingled monkeys of different species, in a zoo or lab, will often form a single dominance pattern or “pecking order,” with the alpha being of one species, then another. (39)
Is it much of a leap to speculate that our kind has co-mingled natural hierarchies and agents with the imagined supernatural? Also, as educated societies with a robust middle-class have rejected royalty as a legitimate social arrangement, I wonder if at some point they will likewise reject the notion of a supernatural hierarchy.
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(35) This from the Bhagavad Gita: “Just try to learn by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him.” 5:14
(36) Goodall, J., My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1967, p. 140
(37) Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Collier Books, NY, 1972
(38) Argyle, M. “Non-Verbal Communication in Human Social Interaction,” in Hinde, R. A. (ed.), Non-Verbal Communication, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1972.
(39) See also: Hosea 3:5, Ezekiel 12:17-18, Psalms 2:11, Exodus 4:31, 1 Chronicles 16:29-30 . . . .
(40) Bourne, H., The Ape People, Putnam, New York, 1971.
