blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Happy Father’s Day – 18 June 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

On a personal note – I feel blessed almost beyond words to express the privilege of knowing God the Father of us all, my own Father (now deceased) who was born in 1894, and my Husband. As years go by, I realize more and more the trust in God and true nobility of character, and the concern for all of creation, that my Father and my Husband share.

I pray that humans can begin to acknowledge that other animals have a God-given right to enjoy their lives, also. Animals are not to be owned and exploited. They have an intrinsic worth granted to them by God. Humans do not have the right to deny this basic right. God will not long endure the horrendous, increasing, out-of-control exploitation of His creatures who are denied their basic rights at the hands of humans who were to be stewards.

Now for a little background on the origin of Father’s Day in this country:

In 1909 Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when the idea of a Father’s Day occurred to her. Mrs. Dodd’s father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Alone, he raised his six children on a farm in the state of Washington.

As an adult, Mrs. Dodd, wanting to honor her father for his selflessness, chose her father’s birth month, June, for the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington. The date was June 19, 1910.

It took several years before Father’s Day would become established as a permanent national observance. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father's Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day; and finally, in 1972, with President Richard Nixon’s signature, the third Sunday of June became the official Father’s Day.

Here is a poem for Father’s Day:

What Makes A Dad
Author unknown –

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad.

Have a Happy Father’s Day!

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