A Father's Day Tribute

I cannot think of a better place to save this tribute given today in Sacrament meeting by my current graduate - Naomi. The following is her talk on Father's Day...

"I apologize to everyone who may think this is one of those boring talks, mostly because it's true, but also because I wrote it in a rush Saturday evening. I can attribute that partly to procrastination,  but most of it is a result of all of the studying, practice finals, and diploma's I've been stressing about. So if I start talking about the anti-derivative of a trigonometric statement, the relevance of Shakespeare in the English language, or the molecular structure of a benzene ring, just bear with me...

Now that I've proficiently used up the first thirty seconds, I'll begin with a poem that I thought to be a perfect description of fathers.

Fathers are wonderful people too little understood,

And we do not sing their praises as often as we should …

For, somehow, Father seems to be the man who pays the bills,

While Mother binds up little hurts and nurses all our ills …

And Father struggles daily to live up to ‘HIS IMAGE’

As protector and provider and ‘hero of the scrimmage’

And perhaps that is the reason we sometimes get the notion

That Fathers are not subject to the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad’s heart, where no one else can see,

You’ll find he’s sentimental and as ‘soft’ as he can be …

But he’s so busy every day in the gruelling race of life,

He leaves the sentimental stuff to his partner and his wife …

But Fathers are just WONDERFUL in a million different ways,

And they merit loving compliments and accolades of praise,

For the only reason Dad aspires to fortune and success

Is to make the family proud of him and to bring them happiness …

And like OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, he’s a guardian and a guide,

Someone that we can count on to be ALWAYS ON OUR SIDE.

This poem was actually written by a woman with the name Helen Steiner Rice. I'd never heard of her before now, but if you get the chance, you should look her up. She was a rather spectacular woman.

But anyways... The reason I liked this poem so much is the honesty that it conveyed. It made me proud to have a father, but also a little upset that I don't always treat him with the respect he deserves. Fathers are the patriarchs of the home; their generous character is encased in love and wrapped in humility. Their divine role in the home has been established through the mouth of prophets by our loving Father in Heaven.

In the Proclamation to the World it says, "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protections for their families."

Unfortunately, the world's views on fatherhood are sliding. As soon as we say that a father is to work in love for the general benefit and protection of the family, we are suddenly seen as old-fashioned and confined to roles that dictate our lives. But isn't confinement defined by misery? And who says living God's law was every misery? All one has to do is look at the life of a righteous father and know that he is not held back by the torrents of the world, but rather he has wings to rise above the storm.

I know this to be a very accurate description of my father, and I doubt I'm the only one who feels the same about their father. However, I can attest to the fact that he's not perfect either. No dad is. He wouldn't be my father without his flaws and imperfections. In fact, his quirks make his kind and thoughtful actions more sincere.

That is where one might begin to feel guilty. Often times we forget the blessing it is to have such a loving parent. We assume our father should be perfect and better than everyone else. We want our father to be hardworking, wise, compassionate, witty and sensitive - but only at the right times. This is a selfish desire. As mortals, we are prone to selfishness, but this still doesn't make it right.

Maybe it's just a childish thing to believe, but in the few short months after my 18th birthday I began to pay closer attention to the way adults treated each other. And to be completely honest, most of them are still children. My hope here is that I can be better than that, and I can begin at home with my relationship to my father.

Fathers work their hardest to make their children happy, but sometimes the things children expect from their father simply aren't feasible. Alma the younger was a rebellious youth who dismissed his father as old and unwise. He chose to tear down the church rather than  to try and align his will with his father's. But through it all, Alma the elder remained patient, praying daily for his wayward son. This is just one example of what fathers do for us. Even through our selfishness and rebelliousness, they will love and protect us.

But through all our ups and downs, we forget that we do have a Father in Heaven who is perfect. He is everything we need and at all the right times."

Naomi then concluded her talk with her testimony, bearing witness of the love she has for her father in Heaven as well as her earthly father. I simply cannot express the joy I feel in my heart, when I hear one of my children express such inspiring thoughts. I am so thankful for Naomi's willingness to speak to the ward this morning and share her thoughts and experiences with us.