This cartoon says it all on this Father's day 2010. A busy father was nagged by his son to go fishing. Eventually he could not put it off so he cleared a day in his diary and did it (I don't like fishing either, but I love being with my sons). Afterwards the father wrote in his diary, "worst day of my life". The boy subsequently died in an accident and the father had to tidy up his room, a process that stumbled on the boy's diary. As the father sat down to page through the book he came to the day when the two went fishing - the inscription said, "best day of my life".
The lesson in this story is for fathers to never underestimate their value to growing chidren. There is evidence that the sexual identity of boys and girls is derived from their fathers as is their concept of an angry, absent or loving God.
Even an imperfect father (and we are all flawed) can make a profound difference. A man asked his friend, "why are you such a fine person, whilst you dad was such an habitual drunk". The other replied, "When I was young, my brother died of a sickness that my parents could have treated, so they blamed each other until she left and divorced him. He turned to the bottle to soothe his compound pains, but he also won custody of me. Every night, for as far back as I can remember, that old man, drunk or sober, would creep into my room, kiss my forehead and say, "I love you son" - and that sole fact defines my life today".
Fathers, I salute you. Hardened criminals rarely resent their moms, but almost always resent the absence of their dads. Know today that you do make a big difference and may well be the last restraint on a world that is spinning out of control. Never underestimate your value. A group of juvenile elephants was separated from the male role models in their herd, which led them to misbehave - resulting in a few overturned cars and tourist deaths. The introduction of a few male role models sorted them out - it is as true of the role of dads in society.
I pray that God will bless each father today and give you the courage to do your best, in spite of our shared inadequacies. Know this, children were designed to be forgiving, because God knew that their parents would be imperfect, so don't give up hope - you are needed and valuable, no matter how things seem to be.
(c) Peter Eleazar at www.4u2live.net
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