The Gom Jabbar and being Truly Human
St Barlaam of Antioch shows us what it means to pass the test
There is a scene in the first few chapters of Frank Herbert’s Dune with a device called a gom jabbar. The gom jabbar is said to sift out the humans among the animals, that is, it show that those who pass its test are Truly Human and not merely human animals. It does this by inflicting excruciating pain on the testee’s inserted hand. One must keep the hand inserted for in drawing it out the testee will die. By testing someone’s endurance of pain and mental control over his or her body and its animal instincts, the gom jabbar shows who is Truly Human, at least in the universe of Herbert’s creation, the story of the planet Arrakis.
This is similar to a true story of one of our fathers among the saints, Barlaam of Antioch, celebrated on the 17th of November, after his martyrdom under emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD). Both St Basil the Great and St John Chrysostom wrote sermons in his honor. Barlaam was tortured in an attempt to induce him to offer incense to a pagan god through its idol. No torture would move the aged Barlaam, so the judge devised a way he thought would force him to betray his faith. They forcibly held out his hand over the demonic altar and filled it with hot coals and incense, thinking the pain would force him to drop it and thus offer pagan worship. Barlaam though, refused to open his hand and stood there unflinching until his entire hand was burnt through. At this he collapsed to the ground, scattering the offering in the dirt and gave up his purified soul to God.
Basil and Chrysostom compare him to a great athlete, a conqueror of enemies, with a right hand more powerful than fire and a priest who was himself not only the officiant, but also the altar and the offering as well.
It was as if he endured the gom jabbar and showed himself to be Truly Human.
So what does it mean to be Truly Human? What does it mean to be more than just a biological being with abilities in mental cognition? In the Arrakeen universe, mental control over the entirety of one’s biological functions is a mark of deserving such a designation. For us as Christians, we must look a little deeper for this answer. It is true that St Barlaam had such control over his body that no inducement would have worked to get him to do something he believed evil, but this is not the ultimate being and purpose of being Human.
We can go all the way back to the creation of Humanity, of Man, in the Garden of Eden to see what being Truly Human means:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:26-27)
We were created in the Image and Likeness of God. To be a good image, a thing must look like, seem like, be like, the thing it’s imaging. And likeness is the same, it’s to be alike. The more two things have a greater likeness, the more they are indistinguishable from each other. A good image, in an example like a portrait, is one that everyone would recognize as depicting the person intended. And in whose Image and Likeness were we created? In God’s. Thus the more we mold ourselves into what we see about God, the more we act like Him, the more we are being what we are created to be — the more we are Truly Human.
For some of us, that may mean a physical test akin to a gom jabbar. The test of martyrdom was all too common for the first few centuries of Christendom, and may be coming to us again more rapidly than you think. For some, the test comes through ascetic labors, others through philosophical fights against heresies, others through wise stewardship of a flock of God, and still others through the simple continued acts of serving others around you in love, in humility, and without any worldly acknowledgment.
For us though, it’s not just mere doggedness that will get us through our test. The only power that will sustain us and strengthen us and support us is faith. By faith Abraham obeyed, by faith Sarah conceived, by faith Jacob blessed, by faith Joseph prepared, by faith was Moses hid, by faith the Red Sea was crossed, by faith “they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, and women received back their dead raised to life.” (Hebrews 11)
St Barlaam had faith that whatever pain he was currently suffering was worth staying faithful to God and receiving His reward. Likewise, with faithfulness in our lives, we know that whatever we are enduring, whatever seemingly impossible test is put before us, whatever struggle we engage in, God has promised to reward us with more of Himself, to mold us more fully into an image of Himself, to make us more Truly Human.
May we never shirk from the struggle and endure to the end, that we may see St Barlaam in heavenly glory, embrace him, thank him for his example, and put our hand in his restored and glorious hand.