A Prayer To Respect

I was reminded this week while watching a situation unfold that respect is never, ever taken; it is always given.

What I watched unfold – or more accurately, unravel - was this:  An individual who by age and position obviously was in a command role.  This person had so far failed to meet the responsibility asked of the role. This person, unaware of this failure (or the reasons for it) and unable or unwilling to seek counsel or guidance, instead chose to enforce respect by coercion.

The result was the creation of a group of liars.  Coerced into feigning unearned respect, the group simply began to pretend to respect this person.

Maybe this will work, but I tend to doubt it.  I suspect that in the weeks to come, without correction, what little cohesion that remains will continue to degrade, animosity will rise and fracturing will occur, leaving this group unable to function.  Due to position, the very person who caused the dysfunction will be left with laying the blame for it, presumably on the other.

At the risk of making this “all about me”, I felt myself praying this:

I pray that: 

• I will live in a loving manner such that nobody will ever feel the need to pretend to love or respect me;
• I will ask for help when I know I need it and;
• I will have acted in such a way as to have gained the love of others sufficient that they will tell me when I need to ask for help;
• If I ever fail to live up to these expectations, I will have the strength to lay the blame on myself and seek atonement with those I have failed.