I woke up this morning and heard write a tribute to fathers. Like I stated earlier, my dad has gone to be with the LORD. It just reminds me of how important a man he was in my life. As kids, we developed an image of what a father should emulate. However, no father is perfect, I think mothers get more of a pass on that than fathers. We expect them to walk in perfection. As kids when we looked up at them, they seem to be like a giant. A giant defeating anything bad that came across their path.

I think as we grow older, we still hold on to that image that our Fathers are giants that cannot fail. We idolize them, make them larger than life. A large than life image that many cannot live up to. We become disappointed. Having feelings of rejection, because this man, the man we call father, no longer lives up to our expectations.

This idolatry begins to damage our relationship with our fathers and eventually cascades into impeding ourselves. We have thoughts of, why must he be this way, why cannot he change. We look at friends’ father or tv dad and say why cannot he be like that or wishing he were more like so and so. Not even taken into consideration the person we may admire also has flaws that we have no privy.

This child-like image we have engrained in our minds, we must let go.  See your dad for who he is, appreciate what he has to offer.   I know some are reading this and saying well my dad was not in my life as a child, I can only imagine how you feel.  Others may say, you do not know the hell he put us through, or some say he is an S.O.B. that I sympathize with you.

Remember, that you are a spirit being, and part of you is him.  You cannot escape that fact he is a part of you.   When you hold anger, bitterness toward him, you are attacking a part that is inside of you. A part that silently but vigorously rips you apart from the inside out.   This battle causes you to be on the extreme ends of the spectrum, never having a balance.   Being off balance causes you to fight for peace and a false sense of peace might I add.

I believe as we near the end of our life, we begin to have many regrets, and fathers are not immune to these regrets. I remember talking to friends who work in some type of nursing home or health care dealing with the elderly, they tell me how many of these fathers only see their children on the holidays.  As their journey begins to dim, their hearts bleed, some have guilt and shame for what they have or did not do.  Permit them to be released from that.

This Father’s Day, if you are not speaking to your father, find it in your heart to reach out.   Think of it this way, when you begin to heal your heart, maybe your spirit may touch him for his to be healed so that he can become a better person.  Many times, we as kids do not know what our father’s upbringing was to make him turn out the way he is.   Forgiveness not only heals you but him and it stops that cycle from being repeated in the generations to come.  Your father DNA is part of you, and you are a part of your children’s DNA.

If you still cannot do it for him, do it for your children.  They are watching your every move.   Tomorrow is never promised.  A time may come where it will be almost impossible to heal the scar.

You know I got to help my father transition into the afterlife, and I did not even know he was ill.  He had my mom call me to ask for me to say a prayer.  The prayer GOD had me say was very intense, that I had to call my pastor.  It was about four hours later I get the heart-stopping call he was gone.    I was used to talking to my dad a few times a week.  Being able to assist daddy in transitioning peacefully was one of the best gifts I could have because I was not there with him physically.

Your father cannot change or heal your past, that my dear is something you have the power to do, be healed from your past.   So, take the time to heal your heart, to forgive, and move beyond the pain.  There is something good in all of us even your dad.  You are a child of GOD and he is a child of GOD.  I hope this helped someone begin the healing process.