In the Princess Bride, as Inigo Montoya is about to avenge his father’s death by killing Count Rugen in a dual, he first says, “Offer me anything, all that I ask for.” The Count agrees to this and even more. Then Montoya delivers this line, “I want my father back.” Most of us have not lost our fathers to an evil Count, but if we have lost a father we understand the hurt and loss. If the loss happened when we were young we may imagine the activities and talks that we missed out on. As our memories become more faded we hang onto them more tightly. Even later in life we feel the loss of someone who was so instrumental in shaping who we are today.
Father’s Day allows us a time to remember and reflect. We remember the times with our fathers and if you still have your father look forward to building even more times together. We reflect on the lessons we were taught, some to hang onto, some to learn from and move on. As I sit here at my desk I have two pictures of my dad near me. One is at his high school graduation. He is dressed in a suit, his dark hair combed just so and a handkerchief in his coat pocket. We don’t always think that at one time our parents were also young, full of dreams and hopes for the future. In the second picture he is standing with my mother. It was taken not long before he was diagnosed with cancer. The face is more wrinkled and weathered, but the look in the eyes and the set of the chin are still the same. I learned so much about life from him in too brief a time. I was just short of my 23rd birthday and less than two months away from the birth of our first daughter when he passed away Thanksgiving Day, 1979.
Holding someone in our heart of course means that we think about them, we recall times together, the conversations shared. We smile, we laugh, we sigh and we cry. And just like Montoya we want our fathers back. Jesus reminds us that we have a father in heaven who also wants to share our lives, to shape us and guide us. He has so many life lessons to share with us, so much wisdom on how to live to bring to us. This Father’s Day make room in your heart to spend some time not only with your earthly father but with your heavenly father as well.
Don
Father’s Day allows us a time to remember and reflect. We remember the times with our fathers and if you still have your father look forward to building even more times together. We reflect on the lessons we were taught, some to hang onto, some to learn from and move on. As I sit here at my desk I have two pictures of my dad near me. One is at his high school graduation. He is dressed in a suit, his dark hair combed just so and a handkerchief in his coat pocket. We don’t always think that at one time our parents were also young, full of dreams and hopes for the future. In the second picture he is standing with my mother. It was taken not long before he was diagnosed with cancer. The face is more wrinkled and weathered, but the look in the eyes and the set of the chin are still the same. I learned so much about life from him in too brief a time. I was just short of my 23rd birthday and less than two months away from the birth of our first daughter when he passed away Thanksgiving Day, 1979.
Holding someone in our heart of course means that we think about them, we recall times together, the conversations shared. We smile, we laugh, we sigh and we cry. And just like Montoya we want our fathers back. Jesus reminds us that we have a father in heaven who also wants to share our lives, to shape us and guide us. He has so many life lessons to share with us, so much wisdom on how to live to bring to us. This Father’s Day make room in your heart to spend some time not only with your earthly father but with your heavenly father as well.
Don
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