June 2007 ~ Dad
June has long been the month for celebrating fathers. It has also long been the month for celebrating my father’s birth. He was born in June of 1900. This year was the 107th anniversary of his birth. He lived into his 98th year and passed in January of 1998.
Father is an uncomfortable word for some, I am told, for many have not had a positive “father” experience in this life. How grateful I am that I did, that the word “father” sounds a sweet note for me, even though it is not a word I ever used much. My father was my “dad” and so he remains.
Father was clearly a comfortable word to Jesus, using it, as he did, as his primary name for God. I am always moved by his use of the affectionate term “Abba,” as when he prayed in Gethsemane, saying, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36) The clear, childlike faith expressed in these words reveals an intimate relationship that allows for such candor and trust. Oh, that each of us might know such relationship with our heavenly father, whatever our earthly experience has been. Such relationship is possible for us all, says Charles Fillmore. “Abba is a word of endearment signifying father. It is only as we come to know our sonship, our true relation to God, that we enter into the consciousness of love and tender affiliation with Spirit, signified by the word Abba.” (Revealing Word, pg. 7)
When I think of my father, my Abba, I think of his hard work, his humor, his never ending concern for the welfare of his family, and for his love that always assumed the best. I recently wrote a poem in his honor. I share it here.
jbm
Father is an uncomfortable word for some, I am told, for many have not had a positive “father” experience in this life. How grateful I am that I did, that the word “father” sounds a sweet note for me, even though it is not a word I ever used much. My father was my “dad” and so he remains.
Father was clearly a comfortable word to Jesus, using it, as he did, as his primary name for God. I am always moved by his use of the affectionate term “Abba,” as when he prayed in Gethsemane, saying, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36) The clear, childlike faith expressed in these words reveals an intimate relationship that allows for such candor and trust. Oh, that each of us might know such relationship with our heavenly father, whatever our earthly experience has been. Such relationship is possible for us all, says Charles Fillmore. “Abba is a word of endearment signifying father. It is only as we come to know our sonship, our true relation to God, that we enter into the consciousness of love and tender affiliation with Spirit, signified by the word Abba.” (Revealing Word, pg. 7)
When I think of my father, my Abba, I think of his hard work, his humor, his never ending concern for the welfare of his family, and for his love that always assumed the best. I recently wrote a poem in his honor. I share it here.
Dad
What can I say about my father, my daddy, my dad?
What was there about him that defies or deserves description?
Was he tall, was he dark, was he handsome?
No, not by common definition.
He was what some would call “nice looking.”
He was nice looking, even though he had lost his hair at seventeen.
He was not so tall, and the color of his skin came from long years of working in the sun… on the railroad, for the clay works, in the garden.
He could sing, when he wanted to.
And I remember how, long ago, he played the harmonica in a homegrown variety show.
He was friendly and he liked to tell funny stories.
He took care of things and always made sure the tank was full whenever my mother used the car.
He didn’t always know what to do with babies who became children, who became teenagers, who became college students and got married and had babies of their own.
But he loved them, no matter what.
He believed in them, no matter what.
When I think of unconditional love,
I remember my dad.
jbm
