Greetings Leaders!
This weekend I taught about 400 kids about honor. While going over the lesson it made me think hard about what is honor, and how can we put it simply so that we all get it right. The lesson opened up with a jousting contest where two of our volunteers ran around the room jousting with wooden dowels and pillows. It was hilarious and the kids enjoyed it immensely. The tie in to the lesson being that Knights displayed honor to each other by tilting their visors before facing each other.
After thinking about this for a few minutes, I began to realize that society has twisted honor into something it isn’t. When we talk about honor, we often talk about glory. These terms, honor and glory, often bring to mind a great accomplishment. Perhaps standing at the top of the podium at the Olympics. There are champions in every sport that are given honor and glory. There is honor and glory on the battlefield where young men and women give their lives for their country. Sadly, terrorists also fall into this category. Suicide bombers wrongly are led to believe that if they kill themselves in a Jihad, that they will receive honor and glory in martyrdom.
So how can we define honor? The lesson defined it as helping someone realize how valuable you think they are. We can honor someone, because we think they are valuable. It is not about “just winning”. It can be about showing grace in victory, something that our professional sports have lost. Honor could be congratulating the winner, even though you were the loser. Again, something our professional sports are failing to emulate. Honor can mean giving something up, in order to help someone gain something. It might mean sacrificing a pizza, so that someone in Haiti can have shelter. It might look like volunteering your time to your favorite charity or non-profit organization. Honor could be a pat on the back of someone who is having a hard day.
I ended the lesson with a challenge to about 400 kids. Go DO something this week that will honor someone. What about you? Who can you honor…. today.
Be bold – add a comment… a commitment to honor someone today. Then.. forward this posting to others and encourage them to comment to. I’d love to have thousands of people with commitments here, about something they can do TODAY to honor someone. Let’s make a difference today.
All the best!
All the time!
JT
Today I will seek out those who stand in need… and will honor them with whatever it is that I am in the position to offer. Since I am at work right now, I will start here. I am quite sure that with “eyes wide open” I will find someone who needs a kind smile, an encouraging word, or a helping hand.
One thing I think is lacking in my workplace is the honor of the individual person and their opinions, especially if they differ from that others.
My goal for the day may or may not fit some definitions of “honor” but I am grateful for the reminder to serve, and to do something beyond myself.
Thanks Kelly!
I was thinking about you the other day. I hear EDD is under the gun. I was thinking how unfair the press is being because I know how hard you work over there. If only they knew that there are real people over there, working real hard to make things happen. Hope all is well. Thanks for being such an encourager.
John
Hey, thanks for the great article. One aspect of honor our family has really dedicated a lot thought into is the concept of sharing honor. We’ve sort of made it our life’s work to make it easy and really meaningful to honor all the important people in our lives. We launched ToHonorThem.com on Sept 11th, 2010 and have been-on a shoe string- telling people the story of why it is we invested our life savings into something like this. The short answer: people need to know they’ve made a difference and people need to be encouraged to remember, thank, and honor the important people in our lives.
I’d love to share our story with you over the phone some time. In any case you can tell why I appreciated your article!
Best,
Brian Howard
Founder
ToHonorThem.com
Hi Brian!
Wow… I checked out your website and you should be very proud of what you’ve accomplished. Thanks for stopping by. For those of you who haven’t checked out his website….. you should. Go Honor someone you care about!
Best…
John