Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Letter From Dad


That's my dad here to the right.  He was 18 yrs old, drafted into the US Army in 1942.  Sergeant Buthe served in Germany, helped free Dachau, was awarded a Bronze Star but never would tell us why. 

With Father's Day this week, it makes me stop and think about my dad who died more than eleven years ago.  One of the best things I ever did was to write him a letter not long before his body succumbed to cancer.   A friend suggested writing some of the things that were hard to say out loud to my dad.  Which, with him, was most things I wanted to say.  So I wrote him a letter thanking him for the good things I learned from him; for the blessings he had passed on to me and my children; and, in a sense, forgiving him for not being perfect.  I shared what I hoped life would still hold for him too as he grew closer to God.  As I said, it was one of the best things I could have done for dad.  I flew down to California when I found out the cancer was back, and gave him the letter.  He loved it.  He shared it with friends - men - who came to visit him - they told me later.  About a month after that, he collapsed in his entryway and died.  My mom found him when she came in from gardening.  

So write your dad a letter.  Don't make stuff up.  Be honest.  Be grateful for what he did well.  He'll like it better than a set of golfballs or a beer mug.   

This passage in John's letter, especially vs 12-14, is quite beautiful.  Think of it as a letter from dad.  Here it is:

I write to you, dear children, 
      because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 
 I write to you, fathers, 
      because you have known him who is from the beginning. 
   I write to you, young men, 
      because you have overcome the evil one. 
   I write to you, dear children, 
      because you have known the Father. 
 I write to you, fathers, 
      because you have known him who is from the beginning. 
   I write to you, young men, 
      because you are strong, 
      and the word of God lives in you, 
      and you have overcome the evil one. - 1 John 2:12-14

It's really more like poetry or a song with John repeating “I write to you children...young men...fathers” two times each.  The message will center on this interplay between John's instructions to “children,” “young men” and “fathers” - and what these words have to say to each of us about knowing God and our role in the Kingdom.  

And don't forget your letter to dad.

- Curtis