Father's Day for the Fatherless

Several times this last week, I started to think, "I have to get a Father's Day Card..." and then I remembered that my father is gone. With my wife's father deceased many years and not having any children myself, what do I have to look forward to on Father's Day?

Besides, isn't Father's Day and Mother's Day (and Grandparent's Day, and Valentine's Day, and Left-Handed Golfer's Day, and Adopt-a-Person-to-Send-a-Card-To Day, etc...)--aren't they all just a marketing ploy by the Greeting Card Industry to bilk me out of a few more dollars?

Lord, please save me from such cynicism.

Actually, even if the Greeting Card Industry does benefit, I think it is always a good day to remember people for their own special contribution to our lives. And why not have special days for fathers and mothers who, in their parenting roles, have sacrificed so much for us?

The Fifth Commandment, restated in Deuteronomy, says, "Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you" (Deut. 5: 16).

Now, I know that some people have experienced varying levels of parenting--from Ozzie & Harriet Nelson to Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne. And some people have a hard time thinking anything good about their parents. I have a lot of grace for people who are processing their childhood "stuff."

The goal of recovery should be to resolve the painful feelings so that we can let go of any negative bonds of attachment that keep us in a state of unresolved anger, fear, resentment, etc. Only when we grieve the loss of the parent we didn't have can we make peace with the parent that exists in reality. This is when we can actually grow. We can be healthier than our parents.

If I can do that, I will actually bring them honor, by being the best me I can be. You see, true Christian discipleship is not for the faint-hearted.

For myself, I am actually looking forward to this coming Sunday. I worked through all my issues long ago and I learned to love the man who was actually my dad. I will take the time to remember my father and thank God for him, warts and all, because I am largely the man I am because of him.

And I will listen to a sermon that will be preached by my Youth Pastor, who is a newly minted father, and celebrate the wonder of God's plan that places our tender, vulnerable lives in the hands of two maturing adults who must learn as they go.

I will "Honor my father and mother" and reap the reward "that I may live long and it may go well with me in the land."