To Younger Fathers

This perhaps is a time when fathers who are older may say some things to fathers who are younger. Besides, all the differences that age can account for, fathers and sons sometimes feel

far apart, and sometimes come closer. And they are likely to come much closer when sons

become fathers, and when they themselves feel some of the things that their fathers felt for them.

“The influence of a man is not just in what he says but what he is,” wrote the son of

Charles W. Eliot. “Character is contagious.”¹ John Wallace Hamilton’s son said of him: “The

solidity of his character helped me most.”²

These comments and countless others lead constantly to the conclusion that what a father

is and what his children feel from him are among the most far-reaching factors of life. This leads

to another conclusion also, that fathers need to take time to let their children come close to them.

“What a bleak, dreary…fatherhood it is that sees but little beyond finances,” wrote

Barnetta Brown, ^“that even sometimes says: ^‘I have given them a comfortable home,’ (as if that

were all that is expected). The heights of fatherhood lie beyond the material… He must forget at

times the worldly business of a father and remember only that he is guiding souls… A father,

then…must be of fine, large quality, strong, sane and loving; a self-forgetful, pleasant guide… a comfortable man.”³

With fathers and sons there is sometimes restraint, the hesitant handclasp, the arm

awkwardly around, the heart too full to say all it feels – the unwritten code of man to man. Of

such, Eleanor Chaffee has said:

“One in a lifetime if it is to be,

A man’s eyes and his son’s may meet and lock

In sudden recognition, full and free;

An instant only, by Time’s hastening clock.

But in that moment…

The blood-tie of the past has bridged the span Between two spirits. Fortunate the one

Who, wordless, with a hand laid on the head

Of him who bears his name, has sensed the look Deep in the innocent eyes, that seems to spread Glory about them…”⁴

God bless the memory of fathers who are gone, and bless fathers who are still with us – fathers blessed to see sons and daughters grow up in honorable service, fathers blessed to hold

their children and their children’s children in their understanding arms. And thanks to Him who

made us in His own image, who is the Father of us all.