Sermon for Sunday - June 15, 2014: Blue Skies

I have posted enough over the past weeks on the definition and virtues of fatherhood.  I have posted my views on deadbeat parents and fathers that abandon their children as mistakes best forgotten.  My disappointment in these "men" is painfully evident in what I write.  For those "true" men that have embraced their responsibilities, I applaud you!  I offer to these men, on this Father's Day, a simple song.  It wasn't written for fathers, but I feel, if put in the context of a loving father, it may have some meaning for those of us that love our children and what they mean to the world.  Please read the lyrics, then follow the link and enjoy listening to Ella Fitzgerald singing Blue Skies:

Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see 

Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long 

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly 

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on 

I never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly 

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on 

Songwriters:  Angela Stone & David Vincent Bright

http://www.metrolyrics.com/blue-skies-lyrics-ella-fitzgerald.html#/startvideo

From the moment my children were born, my life was brighter.  It took me a while to understand this, and during this time their lives sped by like a rocket.  Now, I see my son in the middle of a great career, and my daughter married and with two beautiful children.  My regret is that I could have spent more time with them and had many more memories than I do.  Even their mother has left me with memories cherished, even though our life together was, for the most part, misery.  What is life if it is not a collection of our memories, good and bad, and of those we love.

More important for this Father's Day, is for all fathers to connect with their children.  Get away from the gift giving, as gifts are a buyout of meaningful communication.  I always tell my children, for any holiday, to just call me and let me know you care.  Verbal communication; this one simple act is more meaningful tan any other gift one person may give to another.

Note:  For those that did not have the opportunity to read my recent Father's Day posts and would like to do so, please click on the links below.  As always, these are just my opinions and everybody has one.  Feel free to share yours via comment or e-mail.

http://congregationforreligioustolerance.blogspot.com/2014/05/fathers-day-time-to-man-up.html
http://congregationforreligioustolerance.blogspot.com/2014/06/fathers-day-man-up-post-revisited.html
http://congregationforreligioustolerance.blogspot.com/2014/03/retirementagain.html
http://congregationforreligioustolerance.blogspot.com/2013/11/suffering-deadbeat-parents.html