"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the 'children of God', and such we are...." 1John 3:1 "Fathers, do not brow beat your children, lest they lose heart, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4 James Thurber is one of my favorite humorists. His pen produced hilarity in the form of cartoons as well as essays, found most often on the pages of the New Yorker in the 1920's through the 1940's All of his cartoons are off-level several bubbles. Some are jewels. In one a woman is showing a weirdly decorated room to the perusing eye of a perspective boarder. The caption reads: "I wouldn't rent this room to just anybody, Mr. Spencer. This is where my husband lost his Mind." In another, two tuxedoed gentlemen perch nervously at the edge of their seats while a jolly woman, gown askance, belts out a song at the piano. The caption reads " I'd fee more comfortable if the husband hadn't gone upstairs to bed." Then too, he is the author of the famous lines "How can I be overdrawn if I have all these checks left?" and "If this is a wrong number why did you answer the phone?" One of my favorites shows a milquetoast of a man looking placidly at a menacing little boy. The boy is smoking a fat cigar and clutching a revolver. The caption reads: "Now junior, father would prefer it if you didn't". Even though this cartoon appeared almost two decades before the "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child care (1946)", it sure captures the permissive, value-neutral theories often associated with Dr. Benjamin Spock. Spock's book, the next best seller behind the Bible for nearly 50 years, was the text book that raised the Baby-boom generation. His advocating of a light-hand coincided with a near doubling of work-hours per year by American men. It has proven, indeed to be a volatile mix, with the social upheaval of the 60's and 70's evidence to that fact. Further evidence offered is the situation of the children of Boomers. Only one third of them will reach maturity with both birth parents in the home. Considering the fact that an absentee father is the most frequent factor shared by incarcerated men, we should not be surprised that the Dads of the 60's and 70's preceded the skyrocketing crime rate of the 80's and early 90's. We can see now this problem of the absent (either physically or emotionally) father reflects in the posture shift our government has taken since the fatherless generation started coming of age 20 years ago. Ronald Brounstein, in a recent article in US News and World Report* writes that until about 20 years ago we all lived In a "Nanny State" - one where government was caregiver provider of entitlements, and liberal social programs. In 1980 we knew we needed a dad, so we elected one and to this day we live in a "daddy-state" - one where everything from fat-content, to the amount of water flushed by a standard toilet is controlled by the government. We all need a father (sorry Murphy Brown, Dan Quayle was right, as Candice Bergen recently admitted). The sad reality for most kids today is that they will not have one around and just as Washington was a lousy surrogate mother, Washington is a lousy surrogate father. How convenient then, How blessedly, miraculously, wonderfully convenient that a father waits for us all. A father whose Book still outsells Dr. Spock's. A father who is never absent, never abusive, never distant, never otherwise occupied. We never look at the couch and wonder how much longer his meeting will last. We never wave good-bye as he leaves for a week long hunting trip with his buddies and without you. We never have to look at a strangers face and wonder if he is the one. We never have to stay in our room, or at a friends house to avoid his violent moods. No He is there, always He cares, always He sees and hears, always He forgives, always He gives grace always . He accepts us all, always, insofar as we accept Him (What's not to accept?). Any of us who are fatherless, are fatherless then by choice. May we earthly fathers strive to be like Him. May we earthlings all embrace Him as Father. *"When Daddy is a Nag" by Ronald Brounstein in US News & World Report - Jun 1, 1998, p.30