respect, authority, prayer

Respect those in authority (knowledge, wisdom?) over you and keep peace with them and those you work with.

 This can be a way of praying ceaselessly?  Respect can actually be a prayer unto itself.  I think so! 

I'm starting to think that respect (and a whole bunch of other things) are not just the result of prayer, or the result of holiness.  But an actual humble act of prayer in which the respect-ee has an opportunity to reflect on why an individual has authority over them and what the nature of that authority is.  Be it mentor, husband, boss, elder, father, mother, priest.  The respect-ee has a moment to be grateful for others who have authority over them and to consider what submitting to authority might mean at that moment and in that relationship.  Submission can be a reflex. 

But when it becomes intentional it is prayerful by nature.

The respect-ee grows in holiness.  The respect-ed gets prayed for.

Wow.  And for those who are our peers, respect would appear to play out as working peacefully with them.  The respect we pay them is not out of their natural authority over us, but acts of human kindness that show we see Christ in them.

You are shaking down my world again, Paul.