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Tomorrow is Father’s Day — 12 Comments

  1. Nice! We “Old Men” hope we’ll all be missed as deeply.

    But now our society has changed so many descriptive nouns and pronouns. “Birthing Persons” for Moms. So, I suppose we are now the “Lawn Mowing Persons.” Whatever, may we all have have a nice “Lawn Mowing Persons” Day. 🙂

  2. My dad first shared this quote with me when I was 14. But I already knew by then he was a pretty wise man.

    “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

    — Mark Twain

  3. This poem started from a Kafka quote, then became a love poem to my father.
    ________________________________________

    The Messiah Will Come As Soon As He Is No Longer Needed

    The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary;
    he will come only on the day after his arrival;
    he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last.
    –Franz Kafka, “Parables and Paradoxes”

    The Messiah will come as soon as he is no longer needed. When people have learned the trick of their own resurrections, on that morning the cemeteries will burst open with flowering saints from the neatly tended lawns, tombstones and mausoleums. The world will be bathed in streaming light and angels will be rare as cab drivers at rush hour because they will be drawn from all over the globe to announce the resurrections of that vast roll call of those newly vanished from their graves and tombs.

    The ordinary living will not know where to go. It will be like when you have invitations to several desirable parties but they collide on the same evening and you say to yourself, it never rains but it pours. The time of peace will come pouring down since death is no longer a threat. What will there be to strive for, what will we want to do in this brave new world where the dead walk again in their luminous resurrected bodies?

    I am sure there will be good meals. As Christ grilled fish for the disciples, I myself look forward to a good salmon dinner on that day with my father.

    I’ll ask him what it would have been like if I had gotten to grow up with him. He will be thoughtful and smile. He will tell me of the great love he has for me, how he missed me all the years we were apart, and how he is overwhelmed to be with me at last. He will want to say more, he will want to apologize for the time we missed together but it is then that a bright golden light begins filling the restaurant.

    All heads turn and we are aware of the divine presence enveloping everyone in the room. It is the Messiah, now that we no longer need him, arrived at last to interrupt all our most longed for reunions.

  4. In 1977 my father died in an accident 2 weeks after his 43rd birthday. No one could ever replace him but I’ve been very blessed in my life. He was someone I loved and admired from my earliest memories and because of him I have enjoyed a lifetime of good male relationships from my husband, sons, brother and friends. I always say he lived long enough in that he established in my 17 years of life to that point, all that is foundationally important and has carried me through the highs and lows of life. He watched over us from a young age as we brushed our teeth and said our prayers. He loved me and respected me and always had time for me though he was a busy, productive, successful man. I will never underestimate the importance of a good father. God bless every man who is doing his best to be one.

  5. I always say he lived long enough in that he established in my 17 years of life to that point, all that is foundationally important and has carried me through the highs and lows of life.

    Sharon W:

    Amen to that!

    I lost my father to divorce when I was six and that’s true for me too.

  6. Steve Goodman has a way with a song.

    My dad was in Army-Air Force during WW2 as well.

    As I got older, we put all the heated arguments aside and became loyal, best friends. I’d return home once or twice a year and stay a week or two, and how sweet it was. Then, inevitably—at the very end of each visit—as I was all geared up to hit the road and go back to where and what I had to go back to, dreading the goodbys– The Moment arrived. And nothing you could do about it.

    Apologetically, he’d tell me to wait a bit, sift through the pages, and then, gently:

    “…You will not fear the terror of the Night
    Nor the arrow that flies by Day
    Nor the pestilence that stalks in Darkness
    Nor the destruction that wastes at Noonday
    A thousand may fall at your side
    Ten thousand at your right hand
    But it will not come near you..”

    Yes, exactly. Psalm 91. And not just those few lines, but the entire damn thing.
    Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. I mean, damn.

    I miss him.

  7. Re Psalm 91:

    I’m not a Lawyer, but the implied threat of being possibly tarred and definitely feathered and the loophole for Old Lions gives me cause for concern. And I’ve watched too many Ninja Movies to fall for the arrows flying only by day misdirection. Whole thing needs going over with a fine-toothed comb.

    But Joel, you were blessed.

  8. Zaphod:

    Good stuff. A humorous “theological treatise” on Psalm 91 that further develops your Old Lions Loophole hypothesis etc would be worth checking out. And, seriously, David needs to be canceled– like, yesterday– for his abuse of young lions and adders.

  9. I’ve done some things that needed to be done simply because they needed to be done and that’s what guys do. I learned it from my father who never said a word about it. But it was what he was and how he lived.
    When headed off on a project including some danger, he remarked, “This takes guts.” I’ll never forget how I felt. But I got them from him without noticing.

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