For some this first 1st part may be redundant...but please keep reading to get to the end...
My father is not your father...unless you are my brother or one of my sisters... and your father is not my father... unless you are my brother or one of my sisters...but OUR FATHER is my father and OUR FATHER is your father because God the Father is the father of us all...which also means that HOLY is his name and his Kingdom comes and his will is done...and that makes us brothers and sisters in our faith... in fact, if God the Father is the CREATOR of all...then all in the world are our brothers and sisters, too! So, happy Father's Day weekend...God the Father is gathering his children to praise him and serve his world...
Here are some thoughts about my father....I hope they help you have good thoughts about yours...
- my dad was raised on a farm, grew up in the projects, bought a house in the suburbs and thought he was a king!
- my dad's mother and father didn't make it 'til death us do part.' He and my mother did. I didn't. I pray my children will!
- my father turned down 4 promotions to be a route supervisor for the Wonder Bread Co. so that he could have time to coach Little League baseball. Neither of his sons were playing Little League at the time;
- my father helped at the church "men's paint day" of the Sunday School hallways and rooms. He was the only one who showed up that day. He stayed and painted as long as he had planned. Nobody knew but the pastor and God;
- my dad never took me hunting or fishing and never taught me how to tie a necktie. He did show me how to use a shovel, a rake and a paint brush and made me learn the words, "let the tool do the work."
- My dad loved his mother, took care of her in aging years, loved his wife til the day he died and "showed up" for his children's events as often as he could;
- my dad taught me how to cut the grass making certain the front right wheel overlapped the last cut from the back wheels. Extra work was to be avoided;
- my father worked two jobs most of his life. His part time job was a guard on a Brink's truck. We don't have any pictures of him working---just pictures of him relaxing at home and being with his family;
- my dad had a keen eye, didn't miss much and you were a fool to think you could beat him at horseshoes or matching baskets in the driveway;
- I only remember 3 good fights with my dad---a) when I quit baseball at age 14; b) when I didn't get a hair cut at age 17; c) when I quit my summer job in college with 3 weeks left in the summer. I had a back up plan to paint a friend's mother's house. Grace had it's way... my father enjoyed watching me play fast-pitch softball, let his hair grow out and helped me paint that house the last 2 days.
- my dad said an incredible thing to me when I got a little teary in the car watching my mother stand on the sidewalk in front of our house and cry as I was leaving again for college.... "she'll get over it," he said. She did. And I did, too.
- my dad told me from time to time--"I'm proud of you." I knew he meant it.
- my dad died at age 56. March 9, 1987. I had called him just a week before to talk (actually to brag about my new portable phone) on my daughter's 3rd birthday. The last thing he said to me on the phone that day was, "I love you." It was the last thing he ever said to me.
- my dad has a funny way of showing up in my life in this past two decades...ask me about that... yesterday I glanced in the rear view mirror of the car and saw the top of my dad's head...smooth graying hair... funny how his love and presence persist...
And here is my adapted litany for Father's Day...
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who strive to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a good father.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who by their own account were not always there for their children, but who continue to offer those children, now grown, their love and support.
+ Let us pray to God for those fathers who have been wounded by the neglect and hostility of their children.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who, despite divorce, have remained in their children's lives.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers whose children are adopted, and whose love and support has offered healing.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who, as stepfathers, freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earned their step children's love and respect.
+ Let us praise God for those fathers who have lost a child to death, and continue to hold the child in their heart.
+ Let us praise God for those men who have no children, but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.
+ Let us praise God for those men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides.
+ Let us praise God for those men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children.
+ And let us praise those fathers who have died, but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us. - adapted from Kirk Loadman
Men's ministry is not rocket science; it's harder. Keep up this vital work.
One man at a time; no man left behind,
Brian
