I hated (disliked) the High School Honor Society!
Over the weekend I went to Central Lutheran Church where my very favorite pastor, Aaron Sturgis is the chief, cook and bottlewasher. He’s a young guy who is fun, enthusiastic and filled with the Lord.
He talked about honor. I was never part of the Honor Society at Los Gatos High School and had no clue what it meant, I guess the society didn’t feel I met their high standards as you must be invited to be a member – felt more like a clique to me. Whatever those standards are at 17 years old I don’t know. All I wanted to do was to get out of school and head for the beach. It wasn’t until later in life I began to understand a little bit about honor, as a military officer.
Pastor Sturgis cited some relevant material which went to the heart of Honor. Since I’m not a bible thumper but a reader, I will spare you the agony of a sermon. Respect by the way is kin to honor. (Is “kin” a word? Can I use it?) By the way, Pastor Sturgis has some of the longest sermons in the world, OMG! But he is entertaining as he jumps around in his robes with floppy beard and thundering about this and that, I’ll give him that much.
With anything in life, honor and respect have levels to them. When a person has proven to be someone of outstanding achievements and has abilities that we admire, it is customary to be more respectful to them. In addition, it is easy to show respect and honor to someone who has had a profound impact on our lives directly or indirectly.
For me, everyone deserves respect and honor. Young, old, no matter color or creed or other unique characteristics. I show my respect and honor by declaring “Sir, Ma’am and thank you” for about anything. If someone does a good job, then I tell them so. All fair and balanced. As a miliary officer, you are the embodiment of respect and honor. Through integrity in there too for good measure.
What can be a challenge is to show respect to someone who has hurt us in the past or is a person whose actions we fundamentally disagree with. These people have qualities that aren't so admirable, and they do not have an excellent track record. However, if your heart is geared to follow scripture and live a goodly life, you will always be more at peace when you find ways to be the bigger person, even if it hurts. You will feel better about yourself when, in the end, you show respect.
I simply ignore the person until I can act like an adult. That of course is if they too can act like an adult. I surely need therapy. Some people are just out to lunch when it comes to civility and that is a fact. They actually hate it when you do show some kindness to them. Oh well. You win.
“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” states the bible. Not sure about the emperor part, but if the bible means the government, forget it. Despite that, I say everyone should be honored. Its about love and love is everything. It's an easy concept.
It's no wonder the Honor Society passed me by. All I wanted was my board, my car and my girl. They were all preppies anyway. That, I was not! Worked on ranches and farms all summer – sort of a cowboy. That will humble anyone. They are kindly people who are by nature very respectful.
Preppies……Honor Society. Like politicians, just got to accept them. Honor them too, I guess.
