Honoring Our Fathers

TEXT: "Honor your father and your mother…." Exodus 20:12 (KJV)

This verse is a part of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It is Commandment #5. God gives us 4 commandments on our relationship with Him, and 6 commandments on our interaction and relationship with others. The first of these horizontal commandments deal with our family – our father and mother. I believe He gave it in this order to help us understand the value of our parents, and for parents to understand their responsibility in the economy of God.

Thus, today we celebrate special days to honor our fathers and mothers. There are a couple of variations on the establishment of this holiday, let me share one of them that seems the most widely accepted. Father's Day, celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June, got a jump-start from the formation of Mother's Day. Credit for beginning Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington.

At the turn of the century, Mother's Day observances were growing across the United States. The federal government had yet to recognize the holiday, but many states had adopted the third Sunday in May as a special celebration day honoring mothers. It was during a Mother's Day church service on June 20, 1909, that Sonora Smart Dodd was struck with the idea of creating a special holiday to honor fathers, too.

When Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, the last of five sons. Back then, like today, single parenthood was no easy task. By Sonora's account, though, Mr. Smart did a wonderful job. Because of this love and esteem, Sonora Smart Dodd believed that her father deserved a special time of honor just like that given to mothers on Mother's Day.

In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd approached the Spokane YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested that her father's birthday — June 5 — become a celebration day for Father's Day. Because they wanted more time to prepare, the Ministerial Alliance chose June 19 instead.

The first Father's Day was thus observed in the State of Washington on June 19, 1910. The idea of officially celebrating fatherhood spread quickly across the United States, as more and more states adopted the holiday. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized Father's Day as the third Sunday in June of that year and encouraged states to do the same. Congress officially recognized Father's Day in 1956 with the passage of a joint resolution.

Ten years later, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon permanently established the observance of the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in the United States.

Sonora Smart Dodd lived to see her idea come to fruition. She died in 1978 at the ripe old age of 96.

When I think about Father’s Day I always think about my own Dad and our heavenly Father. When I was young my relationship with my Dad was different than after I grew up, got married, and had a family of my own. My relationship with God is different now than it was when I was growing up. I was always taught to love God because He first loved me and I did. A number of years ago I realized it wasn’t about how much I loved God, where I went to Church, or how often I did. It was that moment when I realized “just how much that He LOVES me.”

When we look at our grandchildren playing we have so much love and pride. We think to

Ourselves, “We’ve got the cutest and smartest grandkids EVER.” When they don’t do what we tell them our love for them doesn’t change. We just take the time to show them why and how it is to their benefit that they listen to our instruction. No matter what they do right or wrong our love for them never changes. We have loved them since the time that they were in their Mother’s womb.

Then I think about our heavenly FATHER. When I am going through my day and asking Him to give me direction in what I am doing or if I am not seeking Him for direction “He loves me just the same.” I don’t have to be PERFECT to receive His love, because HE LOVES ME. HE CHOSE ME. That is such a freeing realization for me.

As you celebrate Father’s day this month, for many of us our fathers have gone on. But, our memories remain. We need to honor them in our thoughts. And in turn, I pray that our Heavenly Father will reveal Himself to you in such a way that you know… that you know… that you know… that you are LOVED BY HIM!