When you think of someone to Honor, what is the first image that jumps into your mind? Is it a veteran who merits special mention for helping a wounded comrade from the battlefield? Or perhaps a man in a wheelchair who lost his limbs in war? Or, other than military members, do you think of the Biblical admonition to “Honor thy mother and father”?
These images are good ones, but when we think about the true meaning of “honor,” we must give esteem to the value within each of us? In other words, “I Honor you for who you are.”
Here is an example of someone to be Honored. A young mother pushing a stroller walks into a grocery store with $25.75 in her wallet. Her grocery list reads “milk, diapers, bread, eggs, chicken.” Milk costs at least $5, diapers $15, bread $4, eggs $4, and chicken $10. The total amount with tax totals over $40. Clearly, this young mother does not have enough money to pay for everything on her list. She looks down at her child, and without a second thought decides to buy just the diapers and milk. Her baby comes first. She leaves the store with a handful of change, her milk, her diapers, and her baby.
When the young mother arrives home, she feeds her baby a bottle, changes his bottom, and gets ready for work. She holds down two jobs so she can support her family. Her waitress job pays for the bills; her Laundromat job pays for the babysitter. She has a small amount of money left over.
After the babysitter arrives, the young mother walks to the bus stop, where she encounters an elderly man and his dog sitting outside a store on a cardboard box. The man is holding a sign that reads “Please help feed my dog.” The man looks rough. His face is gnarled from age. An outhouse odor permeates the air around him. A big yellow dog that looks as old as his master is curled up on the man’s lap. The mother considers this man for a moment, and without hesitation makes a decision to empty the last of her change into his cup.
“Thank you, ma’am,” responds the man wearing a well-worn army jacket.
“No. I thank you!” the smiling mother responds, as she pats the dog on its head and continues on to bus stop.
This mother, who has very little in the world, placed her bus fair into the cup of a down-and-out Vietnam vet whom everyone else was walking past because she knew that even such a small amount of change would make a difference in the life of that man and his dog.
So who deserves to be Honored in this scenario? Both the vet and the mother must be Honored: the vet for his service to our country, and the mother for giving to someone in need. Even a small amount of giving can make a big difference in the eyes of the receiver.
“It’s an Honor to know you, soldier.”
“It’s an Honor to know you, young mother.
–Lucia Mann, author of Rented Silence, is a CBC Book Award Winner and s passionate anti-slavery advocate.
Character Building Counts Book Awards at www.CBCAwards.com