Respect

Respect.

"A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements." 

It used to be a given that for some respect naturally came along with the office or position. Teachers, police officers, the clergy, and the President were overall treated with respect by most. 

Of course, the old adage about respect being earned was also true. What I see today is very little respect for those who were naturally respected in the past. As a teacher I was very fortunate to be treated respectfully by the parents of my students. However, there were a few incidents where this respect was not extended, and generally their children followed suit. 

I remember once struggling with a former church council member who refused to offer the courtesy of respect to an interim pastor who traveled away from his family each weekend to serve our congregation. Although, the council member might not have agreed with the pastor about everything, his manner and tone were so disrespectful that it made being around him unpleasant. 

Several years ago I found myself really grappling with respecting the office of president. Although, my candidate had not always won in the past, and I was okay with that, I was finding it harder and harder to be respectful toward the highest office in the land. Today I see the same thing happening as we seem to have lost our collective mind when it comes to those who think differently than us. 

Extending not so common courtesy to others is the first step toward showing respect. Learning to chose your words more carefully, or not at all, might help avoid escalating a situation. 

I wish I knew how or why we seem to be where we are in today's culture, but more than anything I wish I knew the answer to how to fix it. I always seem to go back to the Golden Rule of treating others as you would like to be treated. Perhaps we need to be reminded of this more often, and put the virtue of respectfulness into practice. 

"Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners. 

Laurence Sterne