Today at church we were seated behind a young family, parents and three small children. The dad was turned to tend his three-year old son, but when he turned back and saw his infant girl clinging to Mom's arm, but watching him, he gave her a face of surprise to make her laugh, which she did with a gurgle. His own face was transformed by his joy in his child's smile and it was beautiful to see. I had a sudden memory of him at my dinner table as teen with a perpetually angry face and a mouth full of sarcasm. At 18, he was unhappy and incomplete. His father had made esteem difficult. His family fills whatever disappointed void he had. They are his joy and they make him whole.

Of course, I told him. And he, thinking about it for a moment, said, "Yes, it good to be a father." He chooses to succeed in that role. He is a blessed man.

Fathers are blessed men when they can embrace that fatherhood, fill it with love and thereby earn esteem. We honored the fathers around here today and it was good.

Amen.....

Here is a link to a book about the affect that liberal ideals and policies have on families and what it does to society in general...

https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576361691165631366.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_7
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Justin, did you send Pope Benedict (or maybe you just meant God by "Holy Father"?) a Hallmark card?

Oh yes, I have been discussing that article elsewhere. To connect it to what I wrote, in a world without women, men will remain unhappy and incomplete. We can speculate what the effect on the world might be.

Looks like we have a commenter fulfilling Romans Chapter 1 versus 18 through 32 for us....