Blog 3236 – 09.11.2024

Respect

The seventh and final word painted on their walkway for the students of Oak Forest Elementary is Respect. The dictionary defines respect as:

Aretha Franklin’s famous song R-E-S-P-E-C-T and long time funny man Rodney Dangerfield’s tag line, “I get no respect” are examples of how much respect means to us. If we really knew the true nature of Who and Whose we are and the nature of everyone and everything else for that matter, we would be a lot more respectful. To me the greeting Namaste, which literally means “I bow to the deity in you” is the way we would greet everyone, even ourselves. We would have a far greater respect for Mother Earth and Father Sky as well. Those are terms the First People used for heaven and earth.

Our lack of respect for the animal kingdom, especially in Western Culture, has resulted in the extinction of far too many animals species. The First people taught their children to respect even the animals they ate and to stop and thank them for their sacrifice.

When it comes even to the beauty of the natural world we seem bent to, in the words of a seventies rock anthem, “pave paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Respect yourself, respect others, respect the animal kingdom respect the planet, respect the universe. The word we call respect is in many way a synonym of another word – love.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White