UCB Word For Today

A father's legacy

A father's legacy

19 June 2022
‘The righteous who walks in his integrity – blessed are his children after him!’

Max Lucado writes: 'Today's my first [Father's Day] without a father. For 31 years I had one of the best but now he's...buried under an oak tree in a west Texas cemetery. Strange he isn't here...because he was always available. His words were nothing novel; his achievements, though admirable, were nothing extraordinary. But his presence was. Because he was there life went smoothly...the future was secure...and my growing up was what God intended.

'He taught me how to shave and how to pray. Helped me memorise verses for Sunday school, and taught me that wrong should be punished...that rightness has its own reward. He modelled... the elusive balance between ambition and self-acceptance. I knew if I ever needed him he'd be there. Like a warm fireplace. Maybe that's why this Father's Day's a bit chilly. The fire's gone out. The winds of age swallowed the splendid flame, leaving only golden embers. But there's a strange thing about those embers, stir them...and the flame will dance...and knock just enough chill out of the air to remind me that he's still...present.'

Compare that to an interview with actor Gene Hackman who recalls: ’I was just 13, but that Saturday morning is still vivid. I was playing down the street...when I saw my father drive by and give me a light wave. Somehow I knew that gesture meant he was going away forever. To this day, the memory's a ghost that never seems to fade.’

Solomon said, 'The righteous who walks in his integrity – blessed are his children after him!' What legacy will your kids inherit when you're gone?

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Copyright © Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission.