One day I sat on a barstool next to an old cowboy.  We had just been to the funeral of a friend.  Was the best funeral I had ever been to, if you can call any of them good, but that is a different story.  The saloon was where they were holding the wake.  The nature of the gathering and the refreshments prompted us to become somewhat philosophical. I asked the man what he thought the word cowboy meant to him.  He said, "I'll never forget what my ol' dad told me.  'Bout summed it up as good as can be said.  He said a cowboy is an honorable man." 

We went on to tell more stories and the day passed, but I haven't forgotten what he said.  I think "honorable" sums up what we mean by the term cowboy and its appeal in this modern world.  There are still real working cowboys making their living horseback, tending cattle.   Doesn't mean they are always honest or perfect, but, as a group, they are fiercely independent, have real goals and do meaningful work. 

In America, where 90% of the population lives in urban areas, we find cowboys hard to see from the road.  However, that does not lessen the appeal of the cowboy mystique and the cowboy way.  People are looking for something real.  They look for heroes.  The cowboy lifestyle is real and people understand the difference between work that matters, people who are honorable and the imposters and "wannabes' of everyday life.

~ Lee Raine  http://www.cowboyshowcase.com

Honor is a concept of life (a value if you will) that we are losing in today's value-free society. Very few seem to have any idea of honor either in their daily lives, their relationships or their work.  Webster's Dictionary defines "honor' as: "...official dignity, repute, esteem - a keen sense of right and wrong - adherence to actions or principles considered right - integrity - to bring respect .... to show regard..."

1. The Hebrew word translated with our English word “honor” carries a wide variety of meanings. It is a complex word, one not easily understood without some thought.

2. The Hebrew dictionary says it means “to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.”

a. The concept is of something or someone who cannot easily be dismissed. Like a huge boulder in the road, it is something we must make allowance for; Like a heavy weight, it is pressing upon our thoughts; Like something glorious, we have a sense of awe or reverence for the person or thing.

In today's society those who would live honorably are often looked upon as being weirdo's or fanatics.

Honor is a many-sided virtue and includes:

• Self-Discipline--disciplining or training oneself.
• Responsibility--being accountable to ourselves and to others.
• Courage--standing our ground in the face of impossible odds.
• Perseverance--keeping on keeping on when it would be much easier just to quit.
• Honesty-being genuine, real, in everything we do.
• Loyalty--being faithful to others.
• Duty - doing what's right whether or not it's popular and whether or not we win. 
• Faith--reaching beyond ourselves and our own abilities.

Each of these, by the way, is a sermon in itself. 

Honor involves being true to our word. This is found among all races of man. Of the Sioux Indian it has been written by those who lived with them "..... honesty was an absolute, and lying was sure to bring the direst consequences. The straight stem of the pipe a man smoked represented the need to speak straightly .. so that it might never be said of him that he spoke with two tongues ......" (The Mystic Warriors of the Plains, pg. 69)

In the early days of the West a person was judged by how true they were to their word. Many a cattle contract worth thousands of dollars were concluded simply on a handshake. If a man gave his word he was expected to keep it.

This concept has its roots in the Judeo-Christian ethic, though it can be found among many other cultures. Psalm 15 in the Old Testament describes the solid, unmovable man who will enjoy God's blessing as one who "...keeps a promise even if it ruins him..." (Ps 15:4, The Living Bible)

Honor and Dishonor: The Bushido ~ Samurai Code of Honor

The samurai were not mercenary warriors, roaming Japan and fighting for whatever warlord would pay them. They were bound to a specific lord, or daimyo, and also bound to their communities by duty and honor.

This code of honor is known as Bushido, and comes from the word bushi, which means "warrior." The Japanese word do means "the way." So Bushido means, "the way of the warrior." This code evolved from an earlier period, when samurai were archers and horsemen. The training and devotion needed to master these skills and bond with a horse led to kyuba no michi, "the way of the horse and bow."

Although Bushido is referred to as a code, it was not a formal set of rules that all samurai followed. In fact, Bushido changed greatly throughout Japanese history and even from one clan to the next. Bushido wasn't written down at all until the 17th century, after samurai had been in existence for centuries.

The first duty of a samurai was loyalty to his lord. Japan had a feudal system, in which a lord expected obedience from his vassals, who in turn received economic and military protection from the lord. If a lord couldn't count on absolute loyalty from his vassals, the entire system would have collapsed. This sense of loyalty and honor was often carried to extremes by the Japanese, who would fight to the death in a hopeless battle to protect their master's castle, or commit suicide if they felt they had disgraced their lord.

Samurai also had a duty of vengeance. Should the honor of his master be tarnished, or his master killed, a samurai was required to seek out and kill those responsible. One of the most famous samurai stories, "The 47 Ronin," or masterless samurai, is a tale of traditional samurai vengeance. During a period of peace, their lord was ordered to commit seppuku because of an altercation with another lord. Two years later, all 47 samurai invaded the lord's castle and killed him. They were arrested and forced to commit seppuku, not because they had fulfilled their duty of vengeance (this was expected), but because they had done it with a secret attack, which was considered dishonorable.

Losing Face

Face is perhaps the most important concept in Chinese culture. The definition of face in China is your social status, dignity, honor, pride, authority, and even trustworthiness. So as you can imagine, "Losing Face" is one of the ultimate disgraces.

Yes, there are incidents where people commit suicide because they feel they have lost face. It is important to keep yours and other people's face at a respective level when speaking to one another.

Traditionally, you can insult a person just by saying "You have no face." Most of the time in China you will rarely you see a person talking opening about their problems because at all times you need to protect your face. That is the reason why you will never hear Chinese people talking about their drug addiction, sex life, family problems, and abuse in their household.

To live honorably means to remain true to what is right in spite of pressure to do otherwise. Even if no one is watching! The life thus lived is of great value. To die with honor means that we must first live honorably. To live honorably, and to die honorably. The life so lived counts for something. It has purpose. It is valuable.

This to me is a mark of a real Shootist. A man of honor. To a man of honor you can entrust your property, your possessions, your family or your life and know they are looked after. You would not have to worry about them. 

Live honorably.  It will attract those who have a similar honor and you will stand out from among the ordinary.  Who knows what life you may influence?  In the end, if someone says of me, "He was an honorable man." I will count it as the highest compliment.

Honor is, therefore, the exact opposite of thoughtlessness and neglect. It conveys a sense of enormous importance to the thing to which it is given. It was an expression of value and worth.