The first observance of Father's Day took place in 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia. This was arranged to memorialize the 210 fathers who had died in the Monongah coal-mining tragedy a few months earlier. There are more phone calls on Mother's Day than Father's Day, probably because mothers are the nurturing figures in the home, and there are more homes where just a mother is present, but both days are among the busiest of the year for the telephone company.
Fortunate is the child who has had a stalwart God-fearing father in the home, a father who is truly the head of the house, who in spite of every conceivable problem, puts his family first. The child who has experienced the stability of an earthly father is ready to appreciate a heavenly Father.
As most of my readers know, I am a life-long antiquarian book collector. Among my many historical books, I own several books on male clubs and fraternities such as the Masons, B'nai B'rith, Knights of Columbus, even Rotarians and Elks. In a book describing the Woodmen of the World, a fraternal organization founded in 1890, founder Joseph Root stated that the stability of any male organization depended on having rock-solid fathers as members. It is the gravitas of fathers that give stability to the community, the business world, school system, and even the churches.
A son or daughter, who sees their father active in a church...singing the old hymns, praying, working, giving to God's work, will not be as likely to drift from such roots. The ability of a tree to withstand a storm depends entirely on its root system. As early as in the 1st century churches, the fathers of the homes determined the integrity of the church.
Not to lessen the importance of the pastor, the music director, or any other staff member of the church, but it is the active, committed fathers of the church that determine the influence of the church. A father who loves his children as much as our heavenly Father loves His bride (the church) will make every effort to support his church in his living and in his giving.
The church was the educational center of early education...elementary, high school and even colleges...it was the fathers of the community who built the school houses. I still remember that no matter how tired he was from working all day, my father would still put on his suit and go to a program at the school (along with my mother) if one of his children was performing in a play or some other school activity, even a ball game.
Fortunate is the student with parents who supported their school activities. Not to lessen the importance of the principal, the teachers, but it is the school board members, the mothers and fathers which determine the influence of the school. The great North Carolina State basketball coach, Jim Valvano said, “my father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me.” The last words Valvano ever spoke in a basketball arena, as he was dying with cancer—and everyone who was there would never forget these words—“don't give up. Don't ever give up!”
Fathers might not be as emotional as mothers, but a father probably takes more pride in your accomplishments. My own son said to me, about my two grandsons, both raised on the foreign mission field, both university graduates, “they are both smarter than I am.”
In the college fraternity house you usually will have young men whose fathers were also members of that fraternity. I still believe the greatest sense of male accomplishment is a father & son practice of law, medicine or other business practice (real estate, plumbing, auto repair/dealership, etc.). The very fact that a son can be so enthralled by his father, that he wants to continue his business. Think of the delight of the father who invests all of his knowledge, good will, with his heir-son.
Many of us were not so blessed...our fathers never belonged to a college or secular fraternity, our fathers were not professionals, did not own a business, did not endow us with his political clout, financial expertise, social standing in the community. Like being born with a talent, those born with genetic ancestry, are far ahead of the rest of us. It is like being the recipient of a famous family name, ancestral family holdings left in a trust...genes giving us advantage in health or appearance. Most of us only have the begotten biologicals which God, in His infinite mercy has granted to us. One man, plus God, and anything is possible, regardless of your genealogy. With the favoritism shown by a loving earthly father, the magnetism shown by a heavenly Father, you can overcome anything that the world did not provide.
On this Father's Day, rejoice in your parentage. In the council chambers of eternity, God selected you. He might not be everything that you would have designed in a father...healthy, wealthy, handsome, intellectual, gregarious; he is not perfect, but very few are, but he is yours.
My father, the hardest working man I have ever known, devoted to God, family and country. At his casket, I asked the funeral director to put my hand on his. I did not think of the things he had not done for me, but of his working hands, hands which helped home-deliver his four children, hands that provided a wonderful home and life for my mother, hands that plowed the fields and milked the cows, hands that built a large part of the church house, helped maintain the school house, worked on an army base during WWII. His working hands put four children through college and provided comfort for family and friends. Thank God that most of our fathers did the best they knew with what they had.
Faith of our fathers, living still, in spite of dungeon, fire, and sword; (Faith of Our Fathers - Hymn)
Happy Father's Day, Dad!
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