Father's Day

Sunday June 21, 2009, we'll be observing Father's Day in our country in tribute to all our Fathers. I was clicking on wikipedia and I read that the first observance of Father's Day was in West Virginia in 1908. The momentum to nationalize it and to make it a federal holiday was slow. People thought it would be another useless holiday added to the calendar like "Secretaries' Day" or "Grandparent's Day" for example. President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation making it a federal holiday in 1966. It's nonsense to think that Father's Day shouldn't be a national holiday. Both Mother's and Father's Day are equally important. Not only does it take a mother and father to create a child but it also takes a mother and father to raise children. Remove either one from the picture and you have an imbalanced home, even if it's the result of death.

Back in 1992, then-Vice President Dan Quayle in a San Francisco club was criticizing Candace Bergen who played on a comedy called "Murphy Brown" in a speech saying she was belittling the importance of fathers in raising children. He was exactly right. It's part of God's divine plan for a child to have a mother and father and without it, something's lacking in the home. Suppose you took a couple of legs off a chair, it won't stand properly on the floor. That's what it's like to be missing one of the parents in the home.

What's the role of a father? He is to be the husband of the childrens' mother. He is to be the priest in his home. He's the provider and protector, hence that's why he's called a husband. There's so many things you can say about a father. He's a sail on a ship, he's the steady hand in a home, he's the provider, disciplinarian, the laborer at work and at home, he's the parent that dries the tears of his children, he's the one that plays ball with his boys. He's the one that takes his boys to engage in fishing and hunting. He's the one that gathers the family together to go on vacations. He's the one that takes the family to church. He's to be the example in the home. He loves his family and is charitable. He sacrifices for his family. He's willing to give his life for his wife and children. These are some of the characteristics of a father.

I recognize many homes fall short of this. Today many fathers are nothing more than a mere physical presence. However, there's more to fatherhood than just a physical presence. He is to be an emotional and spiritual presence in his children's lives and he is to spend time with them. He should be the hero of his children. That's a great responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly. I want to take this time to wish each father a Happy Father's Day this Sunday.