I have seen honor be hard to find at home.
Let me explain.
- A child is born and grows up in the same town.
- They are a meddlesome child, an awkward kid, and a trouble-making teenager.
- Then, they move off to college and they grow up somehow.
- They finally get it.
- They become an engineer, a writer, or maybe a brain surgeon.
- A career follows, and one day they turn around and their peers look at them as a success.
But you know who still sees them as a stupid kid?
Everyone in their hometown.
I said that to say this.
When you are older, I hope you go to college down the street, find a vocation just across town, and live right around the corner with my grandchildren when I am an old man.
But if you don’t, I hope you are not afraid to get out of the shadow of your hometown.
I came across this passage last week and it leapt off the page at me.
Turns out, even Jesus – of all people – was treated the same.
When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
I love you.
–Dad
