Respect

If you are under thirty-five years of age, you will most likely not understand the emotion of my muse.  This example of respect may be generational but the idea is definitely transferable.

It has been forty years and it seems as if the sun has not yet set.  Actions of yesteryear lie buried in my soul.  We were entering Watertown from the east, our youth excursion was almost over.  We had had a grand ol' time doing what, I don't remember.  As our car barreled down the big hill towards the river, I saw my friend's dad coming towards us in his nifty police cruiser.  Being very tired and somewhat giddy, I hung my head out the window, waved frantically, called out to him, by his first name, and yelled "Hi"!  What had I done...?  I couldn't get my head in the window fast enough. You don't call an adult by their first name!  My stomach felt awful...I suspect a  little like Peter when he denied his Christ.

I had just disrespected a man I should have honored.  That family had a divorce soon afterward...was I at fault?  I'm sure there was no harm done and I bet he was glad that I was glad to see him. 

I had often thought there was no disrespect if the approached party doesn't care if they are respected.  Have I fallen into the trap of placing the obligation of respect on the conscience of the deserved?  Does respect work that way?  If so, I can gloat in the joy of my ignorance and the serenity of my miscalculation. 

          "Oh, he doesn't care if I show respect."
          "He doesn't deserve my respect."
          "If he doesn't respect me, why should I respect him?"

In this ignorance and miscalculation is my respect to my God also haphazard?

          "Well how are ya doin? Let me give you a few requests and I'm off  to   
            something more important."

Am I flippant with the Creator and His children?

Respect is a tricky thing because I have this incredible ability to think people are not great enough for my high approval.

Snappy salutations don't always have to be stated but the heartfelt driven idea is that "God has a reason for you and I respect you for the miles you have put in."

Respect is garnered by the greatness of our Creator not by my calculation of how individuals match up to my "perfection".  Respect is my genuine honor of Gods' creation.  Jesus is a great example of this.  He understands who people are, what they are dealing with and how he can help them in their journey.

I told you that there was probably no harm done to my friends dad....do I know that to be true?  Did my insolent behavior lower his susceptibility?  I will never know.  But I learned from that example that I owe many more people much more respect a lot more often.