By Linda Tancs
We usually hear the refrain “Are you sitting down?” when someone has something provocative to share. But being seated is more important than you think. In fact, it’s evocative of power and authority. Teachers and judges, for instance, traditionally exercised their office seated, so the chair became a symbol of authority. In the Old Testament, the Chair of Moses (mentioned in Matthew 23:2) is a symbol of teaching authority. Christians recognize the Chair of St. Peter as a symbol of the authority and primacy of the first Bishop of Rome and, for Catholics, the teaching authority of the Pope. Interestingly, the Latin word for “chair” is “cathedra.” Thus, to speak “ex cathedra” is to exercise one’s teaching authority “from the chair.” Now there’s a seat worth reserving.
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