Written for a  Lenten  Daily  Devotion for  St  Mark  UMC, Atlanta, GA

Philippians 3:17-4:1

FOLLOWING DAD

One of the sweetest posters I ever saw was of a father walking on an empty beach. Close behind him was his son who was trying hard to fit his feet into his father’s footsteps. The son was trying to follow with the assurance that he would not get lost and that his Dad’s example would not lead him astray.

Whether you are parent or not, Are you bold enough to suggest that anyone in your life, follow in your footsteps? The text from Philippians suggest that Paul’s audience “follow his example and live by the same standard he has attained.” I am not sure that I am secure enough in my Christian walk to suggest that anyone follow me. Another Pauline epistle suggests that we be “imitators of God.”

However, I do have good examples that have given me guidance along the way. When I was in my 20’s I tried the role of rebellious child and did several things that I knew my parents would not approve of. I wrote them a letter with a full explanation of my activities and included some of our anti-war publications to “shock them’. I received a response letter from my Father. But it was not the reaction I had anticipated. Daddy was not a letter writer and this one was five pages, handwritten. After some family news he started his answer. He wrote for four pages saying how he read and understood my opinions. I kept looking for shock and surprise but there was none. At the end, he said he did not agree with me but that he could not make up my mind for me. He had done his part in raising me. He ended the letter with this statement, “No matter what you do or what path you decide to follow, Remember you are my Son, and I love you.”

Oh God what a lesson!. “Be imitators of God.” God is not physically with us but the Creator has set an example for us in Jesus and others and given us Holy Spirit to guide us. The decision will not be made for us, but the example is there. The invitation is there. “Follow me”, Jesus said. Love. Accept. Forgive. Include. Give.

Jesus is gone. My father is gone. But I have a pattern to follow in Holy Scripture and in my Father’s writing and my memory of him. I hope in this Lenten season to follow Jesus closer and my earthly father’s simple example to remember to whom I belong.

PRAYER: Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me, save that thou art---thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. AMEN