This Sunday, fathers will again take their place in the seat of honor throughout the nation although not yet as highly celebrated as the Mother’s Day that precedes it. Neither does Father’s Day equal in sentiment, flair or even commercialization, of that received by Mother’s Day as contributions of fathers to the stability of the family are often subordinated.
Webster defines the word father as: “one who cares for as a father might;” to which World Encyclopedia adds: “a title of honor given to men who establish anything important in human affairs or, to a man who occupies an unusual place in history.” This “title of honor” in recent years, however, has been becoming promiscuously misconstrued.
I also find it interesting to note how few care to remember the Biblical passage in which Christ says, “And call no man your father upon the earth; for One is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9)
Also, Jesse Jackson would frequently remind the youth in particular, “Being able to produce a baby is not what makes you a man–and certainly not a father. It’s assuming responsibility of that infant for the next 20 years of its life that makes you a father.
As little as we may hear of it, however, there are many who are doing just that–some even without the mother. But it’s the “dead-beat dads” who get the most attention and publicity. The subliminal competitive edge is often created when children are not taught early in life to respect and love fathers and mothers equally. Instead the faults of the father are too frequently emphasized and often magnified, weakening the entire fabric of the family while permanently damaging future male/female relationships of the siblings.
In the Baha’i Holy Scriptures we read, “If a man has nine bad qualities and one good one, cling to the one and forget the nine.” Also “One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise.”
How increasingly do we continue to drift in the opposite direction in today’s insensitive, inhumane, selfish society in which the more we accumulate the less we appreciate–while overtly or covertly teaching our posterity to do the same. Today we are blessed with increasing fraternal and other organizations stepping up to the plate to help father and mentor youth with and without fathers in the home.
This Father’s Day may we remember that we are all our Heavenly Father’s children and therefore subject to His Will and not Him to ours (as all call upon when in trouble). Nipsy Russell would say: “Help a man when in trouble. Help him and never complain. Help him and he will remember you–when he gets in trouble again.”
May we view every day as our Father’s Day and give perpetual thanks to Him for whatever freedoms and blessings we still enjoy for to perpetually abuse them is to eventually lose them. The more appreciative of His blessings and obedience to His Will, the higher the spiritual plateau we will ascend toward our fullest potential–as men and nations.
~ HAPPY FATHER’S DAY ~
