Father's Day Images

There are so many great blog posts and stories that have been published discussing the importance of Father's Day and sharing memories of this day - past and present - that I fear I can't come up with anything original that hasn't already been said. However, in thinking about the day thus far, there are little scenes and statements from my girls that taken collectively have amounted to a wonderful little day.

• Being awakened by MB at about 8:00 this morning with a very loud whisper in my ear, "Daddy! It's time for Happy Father's Day!"
• The excitement my oldest had as I opened her gift - not the gift that she had made in Sunday school class last week or the one that she had picked out with her sister and mother, but the pillowcase full of little plastic dinosaurs that she wanted me to see.
• E. running up to me every ten minutes with a new book that she had pulled out of somewhere in her room, excitedly saying, "Tory-time! Tory-time!"
• MB telling me as we went to pick up dinner tonight that she has decided that she doesn't want babies when she gets married. When I asked why, she said, "Because they hit you in the nose!" I reminded her that she and her sister had both done that, and she replied, "I know. I don't want them to do it to me!" (I didn't even ask her why she's considering marriage at age 5...)
• MB deciding that E. had done enough to decorate her card to me, and taking it upon herself to add her own bit of flair.
• E. determined to finish her dinner at the same time as her sister, and shoving nearly 1/4 of her quesadilla into her mouth while looking at me and giving a big, toothy grin.

I hope everyone's Father's Day has been full of such a collection of wonderful little moments as these - and that together they made for a great day for all of you.

Father's Day at Shrine Mont

A very happy Father's Day to all of the father's out there today! My celebration comes on the heels of a very relaxing and very rejuvenating three-day weekend at the retreat center for the Episcopal diocese of Virginia, Shrine Mont. After trying for two years to make what is an annual parish weekend for our church, we finally made it (three times a charm!) into the foothills of the Shenandoah Valley for a refreshing time with old and new friends alike.

No phones, no blackberries, no computers (a tribute, perhaps, to "Gilligan's Island" -- "no phone, no light, no motor car"?). As someone who depends on each of those every day (more than I should, in fact), I can honstly admit that I didn't miss a minute of the technology that makes the world go 'round. The only sounds we heard during the weekend were the sounds of singing, children playing, laughter, great conversation, and wonderful communal prayer. Good mountain air does wonders for the body, and the quiet does wonders for the soul -- so everyone in my family came back to the routine of our lives greatly regenerated.

The homily at our closing Eucharist this morning included the admonition that we should take a small part of our weekend back into the world as a seed to plant and nurture, and in so doing bring our witness more actively into our everyday lives. There were so many incidents great and small that would certainly provide good seeds, and I'm sure the community as a whole will be greatly enriched for what each of us at Shrine Mont carried away with us.

For me, one seed would be the love shared by the community of our church at this retreat (a love that abounds always), and which can and should be shared with others. Another seed would be the value and enjoyment of the special, quiet moments that I spent with my family and with our friends.

However, my most special seed would be the thrill of sitting by the lake with my little girl on our first night there, listening to nothing but the sounds of nature, her questions about what we were hearing coming out of the darkness, and her laughter and joy at just being there.

I can't think of any greater Father's Day gift than that.