A Father’s Day Thought

I just watched an episode of “House” on netflix.  I’ve been binging on that lately.  And in this episode there was dying man.  As he lay dying he was regretting his decision to leave his family years before.

This made me think of some men I know.  I know a few guys who have chosen to do that.  One the one hand I get it.  Having a family is a responsibility.  And fellas, many of us struggle with responsibility.  A lot of us didn’t have dads of our own who taught us that.  Many of the “role models” popular culture holds up to us seem to live “free” lives without any real sense of responsibility.  We are products of a culture that says self fulfillment is the highest goal.  Our father Adam was the first to abandon his own responsibilities.  There are reasons we struggle with the sin of selfishness.

But what if choosing to deny ourselves is actually better?  What if laying down our lives for the sake of others is actually a greater good?  Jesus said something like that once (then he did it himself).  I think it might be.

I have seen many people near the end of their lives.  I have never once met a man who wished he had left his family and abandoned his responsibilities.  Not once.

I have seen many families who in tears at funerals spoke of the great men they called father and grandfather.  Very recently I was a part of a funeral where it was said in the man’s last hours, surrounded by children and grandchildren, through a hoarse whisper, he said, “You can’t put a price on this.”

I think we should celebrate men like that, while we do all we can to encourage younger dads who may be struggling with the weight of responsibility to step up and be the kind of fathers and husbands they should be.

Consider this on father’s day.  On your deathbed, do you want to regret not loving well enough, or do you want to celebrate the love in your life.  Make a decision and determine to live the rest of your days accordingly.

And consider ordering The Dude’s guide to Manhood.  The kindle version is only 2.99.