Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother

I still believe honoring my parents (as written in Exodus 20:12) is what I should do and should want to do.

My father's existence in the earthly realm ceased more than 37 years ago. I was still a young 20-something. My mother (at almost 97) is still with us. Whether one believes the Bible is the inerrant “word of God” or just a literary collection of elegant, inspirational, instructional, or sometimes tactless, crafty, violent, embellished, plagiarized, or non-inclusive words and quotes written by men (clairvoyant or not) with vision, esoteric knowledge, expectations, prejudices, fears, control issues, relationship issues, or various other experiences, I still believe honoring my parents (as written in Exodus 20:12) is what I should do and should want to do—not because someone wrote that I should or my desire is a long earthly life. But maybe it was just a rule or requirement the writer thought was necessary to deter children (or those with less understanding) from usurping those with authority or higher status. Maybe the writer had authoritative and defiance issues from their own child or spiritual children. Surely, God wouldn’t suddenly have a stake in these family matters after all those gazillions of years from the beginning of mankind until those words were spoken or written. And how does one define honor? Let’s look at and examine the word honor—what it is and what it isn’t. Honoring, in my lowly opinion, does not mean I have to be in total agreement with the honoree or one held in high esteem. I don't believe it means I have to accept everything they say as factual or correct. I don’t even think you’re required to like them—just my opinion. I do believe caring, love, and having compassion is a part of that honor one should show or express towards a parent, especially as that parent ages and becomes more dependent. Our parents (like ourselves or any other parent) are not/were not perfect or mistake-proof. However, they are/we are (as a wise person once wrote) worthy of honor... Hmm, I wonder if the wise writer considered children who die before their minds can even conceive of parental honor and the subsequent promise of long life. Why did the seemingly wise person not write those same “long life” words concerning honoring a brother, a sister, a cousin, an uncle, a child, a teacher, a leader, and so on? Because I'm such a deep (some may call dramatic) thinker, I wonder if the writer, at the time of his writing or inspiration, understood that some children's parents would be two moms or two dads. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not one to discriminate and judge the life or choices of other consenting adults. But wouldn't God have known that same gender relationships and marriages (some producing children) would occur in the future and instructed (inspired) the writer to add an addendum or stipulation to the honor thy father and thy mother? As another wise one once said, the world may never know the answers to these questions.