I was speaking with a friend who recently visited the Holy Land. On the trip was an 81- year-old Franciscan priest who served as their group’s spiritual guide each day. As they visited the sacred sites, the very places where Jesus walked and lived, the priest leading them would approach the sites with reverence and awe. Many of the group would kneel, some would pray, and some would kiss the ground on which they were kneeling. My friend conveyed that it wasn’t long before He was compelled to join in the reverence also kissing the ground and honoring the places and the God of those places. I understood. Carrie and I had the privilege of visiting the Holy Land a few years back and I can still feel the overwhelming reverence and awe elicited by our journey.
As our conversation evolved we discussed the importance of honor. Honor seems to be a virtue forsaken in the culture of the moment. There is a tendency and a pull in our modern day to treat nothing as sacred or holy, whether faith, life, marriage, or family. Yet, Scripture has much to say about honor. It says we should honor God above all. It says we should honor our Father and Mother. It says that we should honor those in authority. It says we should honor our spouses, our families, our neighbors, and even our own bodies. It speaks generously of honor and in like manner bestows it and encourages us to do the same. And why should we be surprised by that? As with all good things, God is most generous and desirous that we be like Him.
Withholding Honor
In our modern practice, we only honor when we deem appropriate and that very sparingly. Our tendency is to withhold honor rather than bestow it. And in that we are unlike our Father. He is generous, we are stingy. And the condition appears to be getting worse. Dishonor is thrown around in abundance and no one is exempt. So much so, that the question arises, is there anything remaining in our modern day worthy of honor? If our tendency to honor is diminished, surely we in turn are diminished. If there is no honor, then we have lost touch with what is most valuable and sacred among us.
If our tendency to honor is diminished, surely we in turn are diminished. If there is no honor, then we have lost touch with what is most valuable and sacred among us.
Simple Gestures of Honor
As we ended our conversation, my friend recounted in his childhood that on a rainy school day someone would go out and take down the flag from the school flagpole. The goal was to bring the flag inside so that it didn’t get wet, providing a simple gesture of honor. Let us also live with such simple gestures and so become people of honor.