The Deacon's Bench - June, 2009

I remember my son’s birth as if it happened last week. My wife and I had gone to Lamaze classes and learned all the breathing techniques that were supposed to make labor a breeze.

It turned out to be more like a hurricane, but all of a sudden, there he was – my little baby boy, howling like a banshee. They wiped him off a bit, wrapped him in a little blanket and handed him to me. I held him up close to my face and began to sing “Happy Birthday” to him. He immediately stopped crying and gave me a long, piercing stare.

There’s no way he could’ve known who or even what I was; there was nothing in his short life that he’d ever experienced that could’ve prepared him. But babies can hear what’s going on outside their mom’s womb, I’m told, and that’s likely what happened. I think he recognized my voice, and in that moment he stopped crying and knew for sure that he was safe.

It’s like that with us and God, too. There’s nothing in our material existence that can tell us what God’s like, but we do hear God’s voice – in the voices of our parents, teachers and others who guide us, and in the wordless song of the creation in which we are immersed.

Hopefully, these voices tell us that we are good, that we’re loved, and it’s that way because we are all made in the image of God, who is love. On Fathers’ Day we want to encourage our dads to be windows into God’s goodness.

By ‘dads’ I mean biological dads, stepdads and all good men who have stepped up to the noble and daunting challenge of fatherhood. Just being a dad who’s present to his children is so very important. Consider these facts: half of all children with highly involved fathers in two-parent families reported getting mostly A’s through 12th grade, compared to 35.2 percent of children of nonresident father families; children in father-absent homes are five times more likely to be poor, and more apt to spend time in prison. Dads do matter. It is up to you.

The transition from child to adult is a monumental turning point in everyone’s life. Youngsters whose dads are there to guide them around that curve, and the men who helped them do it, will find themselves in a radically new relationship afterwards.

What kind of respect can compare with the respect we have for someone who helped us become who we really are? What more can a dad ask than that his children grow up to be their own men and women, confident and unafraid, living life to the full, with the power of the love of God at the very core of everything they do? If our dads are good like that, what indeed must our Heavenly Father be like?

Deacon Tim’s Father’s Day Recipe #1 – Micropizza

1 can mushroom soup (Set aside. We don’t use it here, but it’s good to have this stuff around)
1 slice toast; Tomato sauce, anchovies, mushrooms, pepperoni slices, mozzarella slices, peppers, onions, sausage, etc. Put the things you like on the toast, cheese first. Put the rest back where you found it. Cover loosely with clear wrap. Microwave for 43⅞ seconds. Eat.