Fathers, Mothers, Hands and Nails
Good Morning Friends,
Last Saturday I spent the morning out in Immokalee helping to give away backpacks to returning students in need of assistance. About 800 people showed up for the event. Families registered and got passports and different colored armbands for crowd control and then in groups of about 200 got five stamps at various community outreaches before getting their backpacks and free lunch of hotdogs. Some of my friends came out to volunteer and cooked the hotdogs.
Many of the youth we sponsor with the football team gave out the backpacks. Harry Chapin Food bank, with whom I share an office in Naples at the Meals of Hope Warehouse, came and distributed food. I added my offering of pastries which one lady absolutely adored. My job overall was to encourage the crowd in the 90 degree weather to be peaceful. I talked to just about everyone there, putting out little fires before they got out of control. For some reason I was compelled to make a specific effort to acknowledge the men and their children who came as families. I know my community and realize that 300 men in Immokalee are raising a family as single parents. The event had an edge of reconciliation of Fathers, Mothers, Hands and Nails.
Scripture: People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49:13-16 (NIV)
Message: Earthly fathers may never be perfect but they can be a blessing. And when they are not there things do seem to fall apart and not get fixed. Chuck Colson once claimed that the breakup of the family was the number one reason that our prisons are so full. Perhaps he was right. Now we are in the midst of back to school activities and the importance of the family once again moves us to compassion for those in need. We will go shopping. Somehow it just does not seem to be enough. But sobering though the statistics are, today I am not going to dwell on guilt but grace….no blame but only blessings. The reality is that there is both a hunger for and a hunger of fathers. The reality is that fathers influence a child’s view of God and that is pretty important. The reality is that fathers despite our flaws can and should be a blessing to the children.
Pray we recall that we are not alone. Pray we realize the realities that break us apart and are moved to help restore a better world. Pray we are reconciled. Pray we respect our fathers and mothers. Pray we relax in the joy of God’s faithful love. Pray we receive and share love and in the process be born supernaturally as God’s children. Pray we teach our children to eat the fish and spit out the bones. Pray we introduce our children to Jesus.
Daily Devotionals 