Saturday, June 07, 2008

Sorry, Not Interested - Hird

In the movie What a girl wants, a fatherless North American 17-year-old flies to England looking for her British father whom she’s never met. When Daphne finally encounters her father, his initial response is "Sorry, not interested." As Daphne sadly picks up her bags to leave, her father has a sudden partial change of heart.

Sadly, many young people feel disconnected from their fathers. Some have never known their fathers. Many feel a longing for a close relationship with their dad, but fear that this is impossible. Will their father really be interested?

With Father’s Day coming up on June 15th, I am so grateful to have a growing relationship with my own father. He has shown me time and again that he is deeply interested in my life and activities. I remember when he volunteered to be our baseball umpire, one of the most painful jobs that a loving father can take on.

Canadians are so polite. I have noticed that many Canadians will politely avoid any conversations related to politics or religion. “Sorry, not interested.” Imagine if one of us were having a crisis and decided to pray to God only to hear him say “Sorry, not interested.” We assume that God is naturally fascinated with our lives. And we are right. God never finds us boring, irrelevant, or stupid. God cares for us as his own offspring, his own personal creation, made in his very own image. The Father is deeply interested in each one of us.

Thank God that we are not just a statistic, a number, an accident. Our Father sees us as deeply valuable. Each of us are people for whom Christ died. Each of us are wonderfully and fearfully made.

This Father’s Day, let us give thanks for our earthly fathers, but most of all for the Heavenly Father who loves us with an everlasting love.
The Reverend Ed Hird
Rector, St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver, BC
Anglican Coalition in Canada
http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/

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