President's Day
Richard isn't driving his bus today. Teachers aren't teaching today, and bankers are not banking. Today is President's Day. A special day to honor our Presidents, present and past. Nice.
But exactly how should we honor them? Cards or flowers don't quite seem appropriate. Besides, if everyone did that, the White House would be buried and it would only add a burden to an overworked leader.
As for past Presidents, I don't necessarily admire all of them. Some were distinctly dishonorable, in my humble opinion, but perhaps I err. Perhaps there is another way to look at it.
God tells us to honor our fathers and mothers. Not all of us had honorable fathers and mothers. Some folks had horrid parents. How could God expect us to honor them? Hmmmm... I was blessed with dysfunctional parents who nonetheless lavished my brother and me with unconditional love. I honor them easily now but did not always feel that way.
What this holiday requires in regard to honoring Presidents is much the same as God's command to honor parents: We are to honor the position, the office, if you will, without regard to any judgment of the personal character of those holding the position or office.
Before you get too excited in your protest to that statement, realize what it does NOT say. It does not say we are to accept or ignore dishonorable behavior. It does not say we are to take no action to eradicate such behavior... in an honorable way. And it never says we are to continue to be subject to mistreatment!
We are to honor the office even when we cannot honor the person holding that office. We are to be honorable in any protest or effort for reform. Sometimes folks try so hard to defame a dishonorable person that they dishonor themselves while doing it. The more vehemenent a person is in their put-downs of another, the less believable I find them. Whereas when someone presents a case and cites sources, I am ready to listen and consider their issues.
We all have politicians, supervisors, family members or others in our lives who we feel are not worth honoring... or maybe who truly need to be ousted. How we handle those people says a great deal about how honorable we ourselves are.
So, today I am honoring President Bush and all his predecessors by thanking God that I live in America, and for the office of President and how God used each holder of that office to achieve His will (God does a lot of things I don't understand, but I absolutely trust His ways). I am also praying for our nation today as I do every day.
Happy President's Day!
But exactly how should we honor them? Cards or flowers don't quite seem appropriate. Besides, if everyone did that, the White House would be buried and it would only add a burden to an overworked leader.
As for past Presidents, I don't necessarily admire all of them. Some were distinctly dishonorable, in my humble opinion, but perhaps I err. Perhaps there is another way to look at it.
God tells us to honor our fathers and mothers. Not all of us had honorable fathers and mothers. Some folks had horrid parents. How could God expect us to honor them? Hmmmm... I was blessed with dysfunctional parents who nonetheless lavished my brother and me with unconditional love. I honor them easily now but did not always feel that way.
What this holiday requires in regard to honoring Presidents is much the same as God's command to honor parents: We are to honor the position, the office, if you will, without regard to any judgment of the personal character of those holding the position or office.
Before you get too excited in your protest to that statement, realize what it does NOT say. It does not say we are to accept or ignore dishonorable behavior. It does not say we are to take no action to eradicate such behavior... in an honorable way. And it never says we are to continue to be subject to mistreatment!
We are to honor the office even when we cannot honor the person holding that office. We are to be honorable in any protest or effort for reform. Sometimes folks try so hard to defame a dishonorable person that they dishonor themselves while doing it. The more vehemenent a person is in their put-downs of another, the less believable I find them. Whereas when someone presents a case and cites sources, I am ready to listen and consider their issues.
We all have politicians, supervisors, family members or others in our lives who we feel are not worth honoring... or maybe who truly need to be ousted. How we handle those people says a great deal about how honorable we ourselves are.
So, today I am honoring President Bush and all his predecessors by thanking God that I live in America, and for the office of President and how God used each holder of that office to achieve His will (God does a lot of things I don't understand, but I absolutely trust His ways). I am also praying for our nation today as I do every day.
Happy President's Day!
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