Spirituality

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A Parent’s Prayer For Wisdom, Humility, And Grace

July 26, 2013 at 1:18 pm , by 

2 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

I’ve written before about how I pray for you. Today, I want to tell you about how I pray for myself, as your dad.

First, I pray for wisdom, more than anything; because if God grants me wisdom, I am better prepared to handle any future blessings or challenges that come my way.

I pray for wisdom to guide me in life, as a husband, a daddy, as a steward of time and money, and as I attempt to be a decent human being in general.

Life would be so much easier if things were predictable; if life came with a literal play-by-play instruction manual. Instead, by praying for wisdom, I hope to gain maturity to know how to handle each situation; as I build upon what humility as taught me in the past.

Therefore, I also pray for humility.

Though there are many wise sayings about pride, this one by Yogi Bhajan is currently my favorite:

“When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful.”

When I think of that quote, I think of my own dad, actually. When I think of a person in my own life who I never have a memory of being prideful or selfish, but instead, who always put others first- even in regards to his own feelings- it’s my dad.

The older I get, the more I realize what really matters in life… and that’s serving other people.  Like I wrote you yesterday, I am now very consciously aware of not letting my own specific beliefs on politics, religion, and even food, get in the way of that. So when I speak of what I’m passionate about, I want to be inclusive, not exclusive.

Plus, on the flip side, I figure that the less people in life I give the authority to hurt my feelings, the better. It’s like that great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Which brings me to the last element of the trifecta of my daily prayer, as a parent:

Grace.

Every day, I expect for situations in life that will force me to choose to put my wisdom and humility to the test. If there’s not something new I can learn about myself in the process, and if there’s not something new I can learn about overcoming my pride and helping others, it’s then that I should be worried.

Therefore, I need grace on a daily basis. I need grace to land the falls that are sure to come.

I believe that God passionately opposes pride, but gives grace to the humble. Without wisdom, I wouldn’t desire to become humble. But if I am humble, I want grace, God’s favor, along with the humility.

That’s all I’m going to say about wisdom, humility, and grace today… otherwise what I am saying could come across as being prideful.

So I will end with this.

These three things I pray for are also what I hope to share with you on a daily basis, from father to son.

I want to share my wisdom by teaching you, my humility by serving you, and my grace by giving you mine.

After all, if I’m asking these things from my Heavenly Father, I must be wise, humble, and graceful enough to give them to you first.

 

Love,

Daddy

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Amazing Grace, How Sweet The… Bark?

July 18, 2013 at 11:11 pm , by 

2 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

Tonight as I sang “Amazing Grace” to you as a lullaby, you wanted to clear something up:

“What’s grace? Is that a man?”

You had caught me off guard, as I was trying to decide whether or not a second verse would be necessary before I could walk out and help Mommy finish folding laundry. That’s what I was really thinking about.

I replied, “Actually, grace is talking about God.” From there, I paused a moment, attempting to quickly analyze your understanding of God at this point in your life.

“God loves you,” I added.

Your instant response: “Me?”

It was one of the most sincere things I’ve ever heard you say. I was able to see firsthand what it’s like for a person to be told for the first time (and attempt to understand) that God loves them.

Whereas I’ve believed my whole life that God loves me and it’s far from a new concept now, tonight was the night that seed was officially planted in your mind.

The lights were off as I knelt next to your bed, but just the tone of your voice showed me it meant something to you to hear that God loves you.

I continued, “God made you. He wants you here.”

Without any hesitation, you laughed as you declared, “Bow-wow!”

Then you preceded to make truck noises.

It’s a start, anyway.

 

Love,

Daddy

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It’s Easier To Ask Forgiveness Than To Ask Permission

May 13, 2013 at 10:05 pm , by 

2 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack,

You have officially learned to spit. That’s both a good and a dangerous thing.

It’s good because it’s an important part of brushing your teeth. It’s a dangerous thing because I have to trust that you’re not going to spit at an inappropriate time or place.

I guess I make it more alluring for you to want to spit because over the past couple of months, I have taken up the Indian folk remedy of “oil pulling.”

Yes, I know it sounds weird. But two or three times a week on the drive to school, I swish coconut oil around my mouth for 20 minutes (it helps serve as a natural mouthwash and preventative of headaches for me) and then at the Nippers Corner crossing, I spit the coconut oil out my car window.

I always feel bad for whoever’s in the car behind me, especially if it’s a woman. I’m sure they assume I just got sick.

Each morning as you and I are getting ready to leave the house, you always ask me, “You gonna put that stuff in yo’ mouth?”

Watching me do my oil pulling is normal to you by now. However, I don’t think you’re totally clear on when it’s okay to spit.

With that being said, this past weekend on Mother’s Day, when Mommy told you that you couldn’t have a 2nd granola bar, but  instead that you’d have to eat more of the main lunch she prepared for you, you acted like you were about to spit at her.

After I put you in a time-out session providing me with enough time for finish my own lunch, I had you apologize to Mommy:

“I sorry, Mommy.”

You saw how important it was for you to apologize, so then about 10 minutes later, you apologized to Mommyagain.

Within the hour, you had begun using “I sorry, Mommy” as a new way to ask for things.

“I play with Play-Doh? I sorry, Mommy.”

I guess it’s an interesting spin on the saying, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.”

 

Love,

Daddy

 

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Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s “Abortions” of Live Babies

April 19, 2013 at 6:02 am , by 

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Look For The Helpers, Like White Blood Cells Attacking A Virus

April 15, 2013 at 9:42 pm , by 

2 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

Today is a difficult day for Americans.

During the Boston Marathon, two bombs exploded in the midst of the crowd at the finish line. Three people were killed, several people lost limbs, and more than 100 were injured is what is assumed to be an act of terror.

It’s easy to ask questions like why or how could something like this happen.

As I’ve watched my Facebook friends react to this tragedy, there are two specific quotes I am watching go viral. The first is from Mr. Rogers:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

The second is from one of my favorite stand-up comedians, Patton Oswalt, which he posted as his Facebook status:

“If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out… This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation…

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will.’”

While my heart is heavy as I think about and pray for all those affected by this tragedy, I strangely find comfort in the words and wisdom of both a children’s television host and a stand-up comedian:

Look for the helpers… like white blood cells attacking a virus.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

 Photo: Getty Images.