October 19, 2025

 “Pride of Place”.  That’s what my Dad called it.  I asked him one Sunday when I was about six years old, “How come Mamie Ounan always sits all alone up in that front pew?” Mamie was an elegant old woman, a little like Madame Belvedere in the classic movie, “Mrs. Miniver”.  Each Sunday, Mamie Ounan processed up the aisle to commandeer the entire front pew in our parish church.  

“Pride of Place”, Dad said.  When I looked up at him, clueless, he explained.  “Mamie’s been sitting there every Sunday for forty years. She sat there the Sunday after her husband died in a shop accident.  She sat there every Sunday through the Depression when she struggled to keep her corner grocery open. She sat there the day her son was killed at Pearl Harbor.   All the while, no homeless person ever went away hungry from Mamie’s back steps.  She earned that pew and the rest of us are proud for her to have it.”

“Pride of Place” isn’t always something physical like a pew in church.  More often it’s a moral or spiritual position that’s granted to us by others after we pay moral dues.  These dues include trustworthiness, sacrifice, contribution, and wisdom.

All of us experience at least some “Pride of Place” passages in our lives.  Remember when you moved up from the kids’ table at Thanksgiving dinner?  Remember being a sophomore on freshman day? Throughout our lives, we advance through grade levels, job levels, military levels, even golf and bridge levels.  

But earning real “Pride of Place” is very different from “making it to the top of the heap”.  We receive the “Pride of Place” from others who recognize and respect us.  We take “the top of the heap” from others who may begrudge it to us. Mamie was given “Pride of Place”. She didn’t take it.  Otherwise, someone else would have beaten her to that pew each Sunday.

“Pride of Place” doesn’t come automatically with power or position.  It comes with respect. Unfortunately, not every parent, boss, teacher, pastor, elder, president, or champion deserves it.  It must be earned and kept as a trust.  Even in hard times, its owner has to honor it and use it for others.  Jimmy Carter had “Pride of Place”.  Richard Nixon never did.  

We all have the potential for “Pride of Place” in our lives. We can discover that potential by considering our responsibilities. We have kids, elders, employees, co-workers, neighbors, customers, and friends.  We have homes, neighborhoods, and futures.  We can impact all these things for better or worse.

Do we dispense those responsibilities with love, courage, and honesty?  Do we use the power we have for others, not over or against them?  Mamie Ounan, that little old lady in a tiny city neighborhood, had tremendous power.  She gave people hope and example by the way she endured, by the way she cared, and by the way she lived.

If we haven’t begun to exercise that kind of power in our lives, maybe it’s time to stand up from the kids’ table and walk toward our own “Pride of Place”.

Music: The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – George Frideric Handel

For Your Reflection

• What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
• Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
• What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture – Proverbs 31 – Adaptation

Who shall find a valiant woman?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her family has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings them good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her neighbors
and portions for the very poor.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her work is fruitful,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her beloveds
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her neighbors arise and call her blessed;
her family also praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a generous woman is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the heavenly gate.