T0daysW0rd.TVP.5.5.22
Today’s Word: Honor (V.)
honor (v.) mid-13c., honuren, “to do honor to, show respect to,” from Old French onorer, honorer “respect, esteem, revere; welcome; present” (someone with something), from Latin honorare “to honor,” from honor “honor, dignity, office, reputation” (see honor (n.)). From c. 1300 as “confer honors on.” From c. 1300 as “to respect, follow” (teachings, etc.). In the commercial sense of “accept a bill due, etc.,” it is recorded from 1706, via the notion of “perform a duty of respect toward.” Related: Honored; honoring. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Honor
I was asked a question on yesterday. “How will you choose to honor the memory of your mother this year?” I was at a loss for an answer. I remembered all the Mother’s Days that I did not honor her or anyone (nor did I allow myself to be honored by my own daughters), such was my grief at my loss. But later I did always try to do something. It was usually well received. But those avenues aren’t available to me right now, so I must find another way.
How do you show honor to people who taught you real life skills– most of which went rudely unappreciated until the teachers were unavailable to show gratitude to for those hard lessons?
Well, I do not have the answers to that right now. That question also sparked that sorrow that never fails to rear its ugly head around this time. But just like those still contemplating the perfect gift for mom, there’s still plenty of time for me to shake off the dust and make magic happen.
My mom taught me a lot. How to cook. What caring about people looks like. What love looks like. How to heal and how to grow things. How to always have enough. How to strive to live like Jesus instead of as the church would have her do. Her mom taught me how to read the Bible and do physical labor… and also how to enjoy playing in the garden. She showed me how to live as God intended me to instead of as how man would have me do. My dad’s mom taught me what the word matriarch means. She showed me the result of what the combination of what my mom taught me and what my mom’s mom taught me looks like. Though, none of these beautiful ladies are here for me to gift with a trinket in honor of these lessons, (many of them hard and unpleasant… but valuable nonetheless) I believe God will make a way for me to pay tribute in some way to these Brave, Black, and First Ladies of My tribe.
https://www.target.com/p/brave-black-first-by-cheryl-willis-hudson-hardcover/-/A-77327677