Opus 2011-261, A Snapshot of Fatherhood

I decided to read a chapter of Max Lucado yesterday morning and I am glad I did.  He was using his creativity to imagine what the angel Gabriel went through when he was sent to announce the coming birth to Mary.  When he got to Joseph it came alive for me.

        “And speaking of Joe - what does this fellow know?  Might as well be a weaver in Spain or a cobbler in Greece.  He’s a carpenter.  Look at him over there, sawdust in his beard and nail apron around his waist.  You’re telling me God is going to have dinner every night with him?  Your telling me the source of wisdom is going to call this guy ‘Dad’?  You’re telling me a common laborer is going to be charged with giving food to God?
        “What if he gets laid off?
        “What if he gets cranky”?, When God Whispers Your Name, p. 57

I could not help getting a picture of my father in a nail apron.  He usually had cement dust instead of sawdust, but the picture was too real.  Memories came back.

As a youth in the depression he helped support his family working on farms and general labor.  He worked as a UPS driver and in a foundry.  He eventually bought a pick-up and began to work for himself, first hauling trash and then learning to do concrete work.  He eventually earned his general contractors license.  He never got rich or saved a lot of money.  He never outgrew his blue-collar, working class roots.

And what a father he was!  He raised four boys who have all learned to serve the Lord and be productive members of society.  We came up through the radical 60's.  We grew beards and avoided the barber.  We also grew integrity and avoided booze and drugs.  How many men have that kind of record?

He must have been a lot like Joseph.  Jesus had an earthly father much like mine.  I also think his example is why I have a healthy view of God as father.

A reality of the incarnation was that Almighty God became man.  He went through what we went through.  Think about that next time you start to feel like life is getting hard.

    Man of Sorrows, What a Name
    For the Son of God who came,
    Ruined sinners to reclaim.
    Hallelujah!  What a Savior.

I need to take the book back to the library today, but Jesus is on permanent loan.

homo unius libri