"You do me honor"

Have you ever had one of those experiences that changes you? Or at least you really truly hope you are changed...for good? I have them now and again, and they usually are a "God thing", but I am sadly not always permanently changed. Being honest I would have to admit that. I want to be different, pray to be different, even give God permission to MAKE me different yet in the end I tend to go back to my habits. So sad.

This weekend I had such an experience and I hope it sticks. I am a Young Life leader and we have a weekend each year that is officially a training sort of thing, but I find it to be much more of a retreat. It is for adult staff and volunteers (like me) to get together and encourage one another, and it is something I look forward to each January.

In spite of my dental issues this week, I packed up my bag, my even larger bag of drugs, one husband and an open heart. I was not disappointed. The speaker started off the first session referencing a verse that I had been studying for a while and had sort of come to this weekend with packed in my heart....insert Twilight Zone theme song...

Without getting too out there, I will zone in on one particular part of one particular event and try not to butcher it :-)....

We were treated to a biblical dinner Saturday evening. This was a 3 hour meal that was taught as much as eaten. A pastor came and while wearing period clothing, he lead us through a feast that was "Last Supper"ish in it's design. Not really Passover, but a feast that would have been typical of that era among friends. Each aspect of the meal was explained. From the invitation to the feast, and how the person was invited and what it meant, to the individual things that occur during it, like offering a cool drink of water and washing the guests feet. So much that I cannot go into for fear of being too "religious" and because the meal was 3 hours people!


Anyway....One part of the meal is a time where bread is broken and it is dipped in olive oil. You then feed this to another person and say "You do me honor". This was explained to mean so much more. See, in this era (and locale I imagine) there was no such thing as self esteem. It really was a humble time, and other people were regarded as higher than oneself. During the meal if you were about to place a bite of food in your mouth and it looked good to your friend sitting beside you, it was an HONOR if they took it from you and ate it. If you asked for a bowl of olives to be passed to you, the person passing the bowl to you would say "You do me honor" because it was an honor for them to serve you in some small way.


Wierd eh? It was an experience I'll tell ya! To be honest it was wonderful in ways I can't describe but not without its share of giggling!

So back the the bite of bread. During the feast at any time you are allowed to get up and go to someone else and place a bit of olive oil dipped bread in their mouth and say "You do me honor". This meant a lot of things. It meant "I forgive you forever", it meant "I hold you higher than myself", it meant "I would die for you, friend", it meant "you mean so much to me, I esteem you"....this simple gesture means so much and I hope I am not doing the aforementioned butchering of this element.

I was trying to take it all in and really get it. I was awkward because I was not feeling great and that was a distraction. I was a bit uncomfortable because this sort of thing almost makes you feel silly for its lack of normalcy...we were eating with our right hands for crying out loud. (No silverware at ancient feasts and your left hand was what they had in place of toilet paper) I was also astounded at the real meanings behind everything. It was living history and that always gets my heart and mind going.

Then a sweet friend of mine came up to me. She is a girl I had in Young Life but who is now a leader herself. She came from all the way across the large dining hall where she had been sitting and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and there was her sweet smiling face and she was holding a piece of oil dipped bread and she said "You do me honor". All I could do was open my mouth and receive.....oh, and cry like a baby!! It is not part of the feast but of course I hugged her too.

All I can say is that this in one lesson I really want to "get". I really want to have a heart of humility and to hold others higher than my own silly self. As a mom and wife and person in general. I get tired sometimes picking up after everyone in my house, but I want to choose to see it as an honor to serve my family, because it is. I could make a list a mile long of all the little annoyances that life tosses my way, but if I could remember to stop for a moment and insert one humble phrase "You do me honor", I would be thrilled!

I like to think that this is a thing we can all appreciate regardless of where you hang your hat faith wise. If you have hung in there this far, I am grateful and please know I am not in any way trying to be "preachy". This gal is a firm believer in taking the giant log out of my own eye before I try to remove any specks of dust elsewhere...I am simply sharing something that I hope has changed ME.

The pictures are not from the feast I was at, I swiped them from the website of the pastor who came and shared this with us.


Speaking of Honor.....Tammy has knocked me over with her little "You Make My Day" award. I was thinking "Huh? Me?". I think the only people who read my blog are co-workers and friends and family members who I force into it. And Tammy! So to her I say "You do me honor" and I have a feeling she will "get it" too. She is cool like that.


Never having done this before, because no one has never tagged me in blogland, I am a bit nervous. I also just cleaned out my bookmarks in an effort to prioritize my time, so I don't know if I have 10 people that I visit all the time. Also do I want to admit just how much time I spend reading other peoples lives? Yikes! In no particular order, but simply because this is fun, these are the people I am willing to admit to that they have their own personal stalker....ME!

I feel like we could be buddies Tammy Knits
Her wit kills me Knit and Tonic
Not nearly as "Crusty Old Broad" as she thinks, Freaky Knitter
My dear friend who is far away and I miss terribly, Dot-San
Always a good read, Marie Grace
Who doesn't read Yarn Harlot ?
never comment, but I often read Green Apples
a well rounded gal, Madre Adoptiva
An Irish girl loves an Irish girl, We Do Not Have A Knitting Problem
From a town I adore, and a customer I miss seeing, Busha Full of Grace

That was fun! Made me think of how much fun I have looking in on everyone and their lives and knitting and such. Oh, and TAG, you are all "it"...your turn to share who makes your day!