Father's Day

Sunday is Father's Day and on Saturday I'm going to see a daughter I haven't seen since she was two years old. Now she has two children of her own. I've six children and seven grandchildren - only two of whom have ever met me. By all rights, I haven't been the kind of father you see depicted on a Norman Rockwell painting. I tried to do right by my youngest daughter, but it's been a tough and shameful road.

As I think about the ideal human father, I'm drawn to Joseph, the father of Jesus. He married a woman in spite of the shame her presumed infidelity brought upon him. He loved her and protected her and her son from those who would kill them. Joseph took his family to another country to protect them from Herod and he took a child that wasn't his as a son and brought Him up as his own. Joseph didn't own much, but what he had, he shared with Jesus. He taught him a skill that provided a profession for the young man. Apparently, Joseph made sure that Jesus was schooled because Jesus' knowledge and insight impressed scholars, even at a young age. Probably, Joseph talked to Jesus about responsibility for himself and for his mother and siblings.

We don't know what happened to Joseph - how long he was around, how he died, etc. But we do know the character of the son he raised. While Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human. He learned how to walk, then talk, then to use both hammer and scripture with purpose. Before Jesus died, He charged John to care for his mother, probably just as Joseph charged Him to care for her before he died.

Joseph was not well-known. Although his wife is revered today, Joseph is mostly forgotten. All we know about him is that he did the right things, never seeking a reputation for himself. Joseph's legacy however is the Savior of the whole world. Not bad for a poor carpenter from Bethany.

I've fathered some great kids. Although I wasn't around much in their lives, they are still my legacy and I'm very proud of them.

America's Founding History - In their own words

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My friend, James M. Pratt, has assembled the collection you see above so that we all might educate ourselves about our nation's purpose.

This past weekend, my family took a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It's a favorite destination for anyone east of the Mississippi. Normally it's difficult to find a vacancy at a hotel from June until November in Gatlinburg. However, we noticed that every hotel/motel in the area had a vacancy sign lit. The economy is just one indicator that our country is in peril - but it's a big indicator because it's a reflection of our confidence in our government and in the businesses that provide the jobs and the security we all desire.

Already many politicians are lining themselves up for a run for President in 2012. Partisianship has never been more prevalent. While the politicians rant and rave and blame one another for America's woes, Americans react with fear and anger. We can't believe that we elected these people to serve us; we thought that the government worked for us; we thought we lived in a republic - government by the people, for the people, of the people. We used to. I remember when we did.

The vision that our founders had for America is not the vision shared by our leaders today. To be sure, there were disagreements among our Founders about the best form of government for a free people. We didn't arrive at our Constitution overnight. It took decades to come up with our founding documents, and those were based on thousands of years of study - as far back as Plato and Aristotle. Millions have served to protect the founding principles of our nation; over a million have given their lives for the cause of freedom.

Inside those documents are the solution to America's problems today. Understand them and it doesn't matter what party you belong to. America is bigger than any party. The economy was a factor preceeding and during the Revolutionary War as colonists rejected the high taxes imposed on the people by a government that neglected the people. We can learn from past experience, so I encourage everyone to get your collection. Just click on the link above.

I think you'll also enjoy James' latest blog post about WWII veteran Howie Beach and other D-Day veterans. Check out http://www.jmprattcom.blogspot.com/.