Fathers and Time

I’m thinking a lot about fatherhood these days. Could be the Baby Dedication this Sunday inspiring my thoughts; or the entertainer at last night’s annual Chamber of Commerce dinner as he talked about his family life and children, including a difficult divorce; or maybe it was for the first time seeing my oldest grandson play basketball last weekend; or the picture posted on facebook today, of the son of a friend, in a basketball pose serving as the perfect highlight for a poster; or remembering today is the anniversary of the tragic death of the son of good friends; or still yet the book I’m reading in prep for a class for fathers this spring.

In reading the book Raising a Modern Day Night by Robert Lewis, which will serve as a guide for the class, he invites appreciation for the value of time. No father is perfect, some less so than others perhaps, but there is no replacement for the time a father gives to his children. My own dad has his faults. And we had moments as with any father and son when we stood at opposite poles. His stubbornness found an equal in the persistence of his son. But, despite the imperfections I have recognized my entire life he gave me his time, without regret or distraction.

I think of the fathers who never had the privilege of returning from a battle field to invest time in their children. I think of the domestic tragedies in which in a moment families are ripped apart and a father longs to erase the chapter telling the story of a son lost to a drunk driver. Dads such as these serve as the backdrop for every father to be reminded they remain still able to give time to their children others cannot.

Dads you’re not perfect! But, your children don’t need your perfection. Everything in their world already does or will condition them to expect people to make mistakes, including you. But, they need your time! There is no substitute! Put on your masculinity and have a tea party with a three year old little girl, or play catch with a six year old even if it means repeatedly chasing the ball as it rolls under the car. And don’t do it just once a week. That’s not time, that’s concession to the role of fatherhood, not being a father. There’s no substitute for time. Your time!

Tents to Castles

This year the ministry staff at Westhill elected to allow the theme for 2012 to encapsulate the new vision we have been moving toward – “Experience Life on the Hill.” This vision has turned toward the Spirit as the source of movement in body life and personal life, and acknowledges to truly embrace the work of the Sprit there must be receptivity to God’s will. I know this should be a given. If we are believers it means we are open to God. But, the reality is tents of sojourners become the castles of the captive. We become comfortable with the surroundings of our faith and lose sight of the role of searching and uncertainty. Yet, it was this searching and uncertainty leading to the sojourning faith with which we awoke each morning filled with the vitality of life. Can you still feel the air filling the lungs? Some of us can, but for others it is a foreign language. All we have known has been the ceramic tile and hardwood floors of the settled.

A tenet of the Restoration movement of which we claim a history, has been to value searching for truth and embracing the important. It is not uncommon for someone to approach me after a sermon and say, “I’ve never heard that preached in a Church of Christ before.” They intend it in a complimentary not pejorative sense so no offense taken, but I’m not always sure what they mean. It happened last Sunday after a sermon on giving. We’re good on giving in Churches of Christ right? We know how to strike the right balance between silence and appeal. Again I’m not exactly sure what was meant, but I know it tapped into a faith value, and was rooted in Scripture, at least in their opinion and certainly mine; which they were thrilled to hear proclaimed from my pulpit, a Church of Christ pulpit.

Truth is I don’t go into the week looking to speak a word to impress people it came from my pulpit! I go into each week searching for a word from God for the people. Short of sincerity such an ambitious statement should be heard with arrogance I suppose, but for me it is true. I’m not looking to excuse behavior I’m looking to be shaped by the identity of Christ, as I speak and serve as a voice in God’s hands to call others into a deeper relationship with God. My finding is such discovery-preaching, or to flip the analogy to the hearer and think in terms of discovery-hearing tends to call people out of their castles and back into tents. We like the idea of sojourning when thinking of the ultimate destiny relative to the here and now, but have less affection if it means actually trading in the tile and wood. Imagine a church filled with people who have made this trade. Imagine what body life would be like. Imagine worship! Imagine ministry! Imagine its impact on the community. Come “Experience Life on the Hill” with those who live in tents not clinging to their castles.