Father's Day and God

Dear Ones,

It was one year ago when my beloved father passed away. It was right before Father’s Day, and I had spent the week before his passing in the hospital with him, by his side, as he prepared to go Home.

In this past year, there has not been a day that has passed in which I have not thought of him, missed him, or have been reminded of him in some small way.

It has been amazing for me to see what triggers my memories of him, whether it is a comforting soup, a beautiful aria from an opera, or even a hummingbird’s eggs in a nest.

I am so thankful for the relationship that I had with my father, and when he left this world, I was utterly grateful that there wasn’t anything that had been left unsaid or undone between us.

He was an amazing and loving father, and I cherish every moment that I had with him in my 57 and his 93 years!

As Father’s Day approaches, this can be the time in which many of us have a lot of different emotions. While many of us will have had wonderful, loving relationships with our fathers, some of us may have had contentious or distanced relationships with them, or many of us might not have known our fathers at all.

Jesus called God, “Abba”, which is a term of intimacy, or sweet endearment. We all, regardless of what our relationships with our earthly fathers are like, can have this same “abba” relationship with God.

Many theologians do not believe it is completely accurate to call God either male or female. However, we can think of God as our father to help us to understand God‘s role in our life, as protector, comforter, guider, ever-loving, ever watchful for us. We can have this abundant experience of true love with God.

I pray that this Father’s Day will be a special one for you, whether it is remembering your father, or reconciling those feelings for your father, or spending the day as a father!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace