Hey #JustWrite!! I hope everyone has had a great start to February, celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth, honoring yourself, loved ones, truly reflecting on #ValentinesDay, and enjoying a host of other events thus far. It's amazing that for a month to be so short, it is always packed with so much opportunity to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. In the midst of the busyness, it is my hope that we take some time to think about the intent in which we do things and enjoy the journey. With everything happening in the world right now, it appears that people don't consider how their actions (whether beneficial or adverse) affect everything. There's no respect to others who would possibly be impacted. I shared recently with a friend who experienced yet another family death that I was exhausted from the news of death for those close to me. It's like you're still in the process of grieving for one person and then another person passes and another person passes. And in the midst of that, one wonders if he or she did everything possible for the person. "Did I love them enough?" Did I spend time with them?" "Did I respect the relationship enough to honor them?" Ironically, when death arrives unexpectedly, it prompts many to find ways to honor and pay respect the best way they know how. What is honor and what does it mean to show honor? Honor means, "high respect; great esteem, adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct, regard with great respect." These different aspects of honor are discussed in this month's book of the month selection, "Why Honor Matters," by author Tamler Sommers. The book is divided into 7 chapters that discuss how the concept of honor is defined and how it is interconnected with life, community, violence and aggression, revenge, justice, and how it is contained. The overall premise of Sommers' thoughts is that honor is needed at the moral fabric of life as we all face different situations. "Properly channeled, honor encourages virtues like courage, integrity, and solidarity, and gives a sense of living for something larger than oneself. Sommers shows how honor can help us address some of society's most challenging problems, including education, policing, and mass incarceration."
In a world where our actions are dictated by our feelings, the Bible tells us to honor everyone.
1 Peter 2:17 states, "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor." Exodus 20:12 says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." Romans 13:1-7 says, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." These biblical truths paired with Sommers thought provoking ideals bridges the gap between the attitudes of liberal and conservative mindsets and evokes and reaffirms the need for honor to be at the center of our modern-day issues.
Join Just Write on Tuesday, February 28 at 6pm for a discussion on the importance of honor as we all collectively navigate through life's issues with the understanding that we are all in this together. Let's all honor each other not only in ideals but in deeds.
In His service,
Lequvia Ousley
