Asceticism and Body Piercing

I was talking with Germanus at our agape feast after church this morning and we somehow got onto the subject of work. He started describing some of the jobs he's held over the years, and it turns out he used to be a body-piercer. I've never been part of that subculture, so I'm always fascinated to talk to someone who was. He told me a pretty funny, and probably typical, story of some macho Marine coming in half drunk with his buddies egging him on, to get his nipples pierced. He was talking big. . .but it hurt like hell. . .and he passed out. I asked Germanus if going through the pain of a tattoo or piercing was part of the "rite", and he agreed that it was. His comments interested me and as we talked we found ourselves slowly entering a conversation about Christian asceticism.

According to Germanus, allowing yourself to be hurt willingly, by submitting to a piercing, is a way of finding out whether or not you are capable of a little more than you thought you were. He seemed to think it made a lot of sense in tribal cultures since deprivation and pain is such an integral part of their lives. Therefore, knowing one's limits is a good thing. So, being initiated into adulthood via a rite of passage that involves voluntary submission to pain is a ritual way of teaching the youth they are capable of more than they think. I would've liked to continue the discussion about why tats and piercings are so important to many people in a culture which otherwise seems obsessed with the denial and obliteration of anything painful. (Perhaps it's a reaction to the vacuousness of that obsession?) But instead, we started talking about the ascetic life of Eastern Orthodoxy and how that fasting, keeping vigil, giving alms, keeping the commandments, etc., is the Church's way of teaching people the very same lesson: We are capable of more than we think. But it doesn't end there. The other thing that asceticism assumes is that this life is temporal, while God's kingdom is eternal. In fact, the importance of the ascetic life seems inestimable in the life of the Church. Without it, Christianity is about as real as a video game. Great graphics, soundtrack, and story line. . .but a nagging emptiness that lingers when the power goes down.