R*E*S*P*E*C*T

I've been going to church with some friends in ABQ when I'm in town (which happens to be enough that I could have been paying rent there instead of gas to and from Ruidoso). The pastor recently started a series he's calling Eros, going through the Song of Solomon. During the first session on Understanding Attraction the pastor talked about... Attraction, duh. No, the part that really made me think was how attractive it is for a guy to be respected. The pastor told a story of a time he and his wife were with a bunch of other pastors and the expected lame bible jokes ensued. The time came, when things were at a lull, for him to pitch in his own cheesy joke and as one might guess, it wasn't really funny but his wife just laughed and laughed. She genuinely thought he was funny and he said that affirmation from her in the middle of all these guys was so sexy.

How many times have I had the opportunity to affirm a man and instead of doing so I've thrown his ego under the bus? I remember a time when I was driving the family wagon of a guy I dated through a big city. He wanted to stop at some store and since he was being an ass to his brother I said I wouldn't take him. In front of his brother and father I did this. Yes, he was being a jerk which wasn't ok, but to disrespect him in front of the men in his life was not the best way to handle the situation. I also think of my brothers and times I've lacked respect for them. The kind of respect he was talking about wasn't based on something someone had done or would do in the future, it was a representation of your love for him. It was important to hear the magnitude of respect to a man from a man.