Chapter 3: Honor...

My Enigma

(Note: All Content unless otherwise cited is merely observations from a young man and should not be considered fact, only thought material.)

“There’s a story that my daddy tells religiously, like clock work every time he sees an opening, in a conversation, about the way things used to be. I’d just roll my eyes and make a b-line for the door, but I’d always end up starry eyed cross legged on the floor, hanging on to every word, man the things I heard. It was harder times and longer days five miles to school uphill both ways we were cane switch raised and dirt floor poor, of course that was back before the war. Yeah your uncle and eye made quite a pair flying f-15’s through hostile air, he went down but they missed me by a hair… he’d always stop right there and say… that’s something to be proud of.” -Something to Be Proud Of by Montgomery Gentry.

These provoking words written in 2005 by Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry probe the question of what is worth being proud of, what is worth living for, and what is an honorable life?

Presently, I would like to entertain the idea that honor is a virtue and it is something to be proud of.

Honor is one of the hardest concepts to pin down, after all honor can relate to many different items, actions and cultures in different ways. Though many people can assuredly say they felt honored at one point, only a select few could define it with confidence. I contend that there is a universal understanding of what is considered honorable and that such an understanding is a quality worthy of pursuit.

Much like virtue’s definition, it is hard to define honor as a thing in a man, but appears more measurable as an attribute. Honor is similar to virtue in the sense it’s more commonly recognized as virtuosity, visible in thoughtful action, honor is more clearly realized in actions with honorable motives. So then what is universal honor if it’s only commonly described in application.

Honor is often related to pride or the sense of being proud, but these are not the real root of honor. Pridefulness and being proud interpreted by their common definition means elevating oneself and or being happy at one’s own achievements. However this is not consistent with other qualities commonly associated with honor. An honorable man is also understood to be a selfless one. Why then do we define “honor”, and sequentially through parsing, “pride and being proud”, with such self-centered and conclusively negative terms?

If we break down “being proud of oneself” we see two very important directions to attach the attribute of honor: first the Self reflected in “being” and “oneself,” and secondly and outside of self which resides in the words “proud of”.

Self, I always like to simplify to identity which is explored more in Chapter 2 (Rationalism, Empiricism and Faith), this term is the same as Self but encompasses so much more depth. These terms of pride and being when added to honor don’t mean the common definition of self elevation but instead just and honest self evaluation. The Self in honor is not selfish but the very sensible understanding of personal abilities and limits. This is the part of honor that is built from the previous chapters, freewill and pro-action. A good understanding and boundaries of your abilities and limits of what you need to do and ought to do will bring you one half of honor.

But a man of honor isn’t just painfully practical in his duties, he is joyful in them. But why?

Because another part of the Self is gratefulness. I believe honor is a state of understanding, an understanding of one’s present opportunities and how many of them are directly gifted by one’s own forefathers. I know that I can never violate or sacrifice myself when I have their sacrificial love and generosity on my mind. Gratefulness and generosity will be addressed in a later chapter.

Outside of self I think is where the real phenomenon begins. There are times when you must be the actor of honor and move in generous and courageous ways, winning the title of honorable as a consequence to being a good friend or husband. Though the title is fragile, it can never be won by directly, for honor won for honors sake is not honorable. However there are moments when you passively receive honor. This is where for me, philosophy leaves the tangible. Suddenly you see or hear something and the whole weight of the world falls upon you, the only proper response you feel is humility, and you just have to sit in the beauty of that moment.

That feeling of importance and zeal that falls upon you when you listen to that old war tune or that feeling you get after you’ve climbed a hill and look out upon the landscape. The solemn swell of sadness and responsibility when you attend your close relatives funeral. Have you ever felt the weight of your existence, of your consciousness like you can view the world and care for the little thing. The strong urge to protect or lean into the ones you love. These things to me are the indescribable feelings of honor. The memories and fantasies of won wars, valor and skilled action haunt me and give me shivers of motivation as if they are a person itself the manifestation of lady liberty, mistress wisdom or God the father. “Have you ever felt anything real?” is what my soul cries out in every contemplative moment of reflection.

The Boys Scouts of America has lodged in me the strongest inclination towards honor I can credit. Ever since I was a Cub scout, at age 7 I was raising the American flag and pledging allegiance to her. Making friends for years and years that I have camped with, cooked with, played with, toiled with, and cried with. I have sung songs joined in joyous chorus with my fellow scouts, and I have hung my head in the collective practice of scout vespers, I have shared my clothes to these friends and bandaged them when they were injured, I have planned with them, led other scouts with them and matured with them. All I have ever done to make me unmistakably a boy, I have done with fervor among such company. Company I am eager to call my brothers. A people that I love.

What feeling and phenomenon of the outside world comes together to create honor? I think it is love. To love a brother, to love a son or a daughter, to love a friend, to love a country.

The Bible says “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

So love is an important piece of honor, if not the most important piece, but then how does love manifest into this mental stimulant of awe when paired with identity and synthesized into honor?

How does it so perfectly fulfill and describe the Self and the Outside of Self and leave it indescribable at the same time?

As I try to make tangible this phenomenon of honor I conclude three possible theories.

Theory one: honor combines love and identity by binding the goodness of love to the self.

Theory two: honor is the perfect synthesis between rationalism and empiricism through the critical thinking of amassed reactive experiences.

Theory three: honor is the completely unique product of the soul which is supernatural and from God.

Nevertheless it is something worth living for and a quality that promotes a more virtuous life. Though my description is beyond sub par.

What do you think?

Is this the result of a search for truth or the hysteria of a young man?