My Dad was raised during the depression years, and leading into WWII. I am not sure what shaped his love nature or character more, DNA or the world of struggle around him. Either way, he was a man who loved deeply, but it was a great effort for him to show, or speak much affection. When giving Dad a hug, his whole body tightened as it were a telephone pole.
Now that I think of it, I was the same way, that is, until God brought Ruthi, my wife, into my life. She came from a family of “huggers.” She helped God change the way I express my feelings. She also was softening Dad somewhat.
Dad was a hard working man his whole life, that is until Alzheimer’s began to capture and change his personality and physical abilities. I hate that disease above all others, as it steals who you are, what you have accomplished in life, and makes you live with nothing but strangers.
It is not often that a son is called upon to officiate at his own father’s funeral; I was such a son. Dad, though the last years were hard, reached the grand age of 94. I was honored to preach at his service, and to hear all the kind words about my Dad.
This Father’s Day, I remember a great, great Dad. Dad, you are remembered and missed very much.
The first Father’s Day was not a national event, as it was celebrated only in the state of Washington, on June 19, 1910. The idea spread slowly however, and it would not be until 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that President Richard Nixon finally made Father‘s Day a federal holiday in1972.
The movement to celebrate our nation’s fathers did not encounter the same enthusiasm–perhaps because the mind-set was as one florist explained, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.”
However, God did not drag His feet regarding the honoring of our only ordained earthly parents, our fathers and mothers:
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12).
“Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:1-2)
Though God gave the command to honor our male and female parents through the writings of His Word, the holy concept was birthed in His Creator’s heart long before creation began. Almighty God created Adam then Eve. God Himself performed the first wedding on the hallowed grounds of the Garden of Eden. God ordained the family unit when He said to them, Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28).
In God’s heart and mind, Father’s Day (and Mother’s Day) has always existed as a command to obey every day that stretches out before us. If only children, and parents, would value the things of God for us, the family unit– the world would be a far better place to live.
Most men do not like those special days that point them out, but all men want and need to feel honored; loved, everyday. Life gets busy, but busyness is never an excuse to disobey God’s command to honor your parents. “Dad, I honor you and your memory is strong in my heart and mind, as I love and miss you.”
Guys, Happy Father’s Day! Pray On!
