Ham, the son of Noah

In today's service of the Great Canon, there is a verse that mentions Ham, one of the three sons of Noah. The verse in the service says:

You have imitated Ham, that spurner of his father, my soul. You have not concealed your neighbor's shame by returning to him looking backwards.

I do not know how many are familiar with this story from the life of Noah and his sons. After the flood, Noah became a tiller of the soil and planted a vineyard. When it was harvested and made into wine, Noah drank and became drunk and lay in his tent naked. Ham, seeing his father, went and told his brothers. His brothers then came and, walking backwards as not to see their father in his moment of weakness, covered him. When Noah woke and found out what Ham had done, he cursed Ham and Ham's son Canaan.

There is a lesson her for us, one about judgement I think. St. Andrew says that our soul had imitated Ham in that we have not concealed our neighbor's shame. Most of us do our best to stay away from judging others, but often times we fall to this sins without even realizing, much as Ham fell to his sin. When we say or hear things such as "Well, I really didn't want to say anything but..." or "Well you know it is the truth..." we can be sure that we are falling into judging others, and sadly, trying to justify it.

We are told to return to our neighbor backwards, concealing his shame. So what does this mean? It tells us that when we see the faults or failings of those around us, we are not to comment on them, or point them out. We are called to turn our eyes away from them so as not to highlight their shame. This is the beginning of humility and a lesson that is hard earned but one that is vital to our Lenten experience and our spiritual life as a whole.

God give us the strength to be like Shem and Japheth, Noah's other sons, and turn our eyes from the sinfulness of others, simply embracing and loving them as fellow travelers on the path of salvation and eternal life.