Oh My Papa

A belated Father’s Day memorial.

 

 

 

My Dad was a self-made man. Growing up on a small farm in Iowa in the early 1900’s, his Father died at the age of 36 leaving his widow along with four children under the age of nine. My Dad was the oldest of the four, so he became the man of the house and ran the farm.

 

One of my uncles told me how, as a young boy, Dad hired a grown man to work on the farm. When the man’s work was sub-par, Dad whipped him with a branch. My Dad had to grow up quickly, never having a true childhood.

 

After high school, he went away to Ashland College in Ohio and got his bachelor’s degree. Eventually, he earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of Michigan and started his career in research chemistry. He finished his career as a professor at Morehead State University in Kentucky.

 

It’s pretty amazing all that Dad overcame and accomplished in his life and in the process, he provided for us. I never dealt with the kind of adversity that he did. Although he wasn’t the most affectionate Father, he had a softer side to him.

 

His nickname for my Mom was “Mudge”. I never questioned where the name came from, but it was a term of endearment that he used throughout their marriage. His nickname for me was “Joe Boy”. Who’d a thunk it!

 

As a teenager, when I would ask him to help me with homework, he helped me to work through it so that I did it, not him. Then he would say, “Now you’re cooking with gas”. Whatever that means.

 

He always woke me up in the morning for school by singing “School days, school days, dear old golden rule days. Reading and writing and arithmetic, taught by the rule of the hickory stick”. He couldn’t carry a tune, but it sure got me out of bed.

 

The same was true when singing hymns at church. He belted it out whether it was the right note or not. The Pastor once said that he could tell when the Williams were at church. I think that was a compliment.

 

He most certainly wasn’t a saint, but when I was young I thought he was perfect. I idolized him and wanted to make him proud of me. Any time that he spent with me became a lifetime memory. On the flip side, he could raise his voice in anger, and I’d start crying.

 

When I was little, my sisters had a record by Eddie Fisher called “Oh My Papa”. The words to the song always touched my heart, and can still choke me up.

 

Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so wonderful
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so good

Gone are the days when he could take me on his knee
And with a smile he'd change my tears to laughter

 

Happy belated Father’s Day Dad. I love you.

 

 

 

 

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The Strong Silent Type

Proverbs 28:25-26

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2028%3A25-26&version=NIV;NKJV

 

 

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, the most popular genre for TV shows and movies was a

Western. The shows were literally littered with leading men who all had the same characteristic… the strong silent type. John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Gary Cooper and Randolph Scott, to name a few, were self-made men who forged their way to survive against the bad guys in the western frontier.

 

However, the strong silent type, is just as popular today as it was then. Consider Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matt Damon, Ryan Gosling, James Gandolfini, Denzell Washington, and Liam Neeson. Even in comedy the role has been popular. Ed Asner in The Mary Tyler Moore Show fit the role perfectly.

 

So you might ask, what’s wrong with being a strong silent type? Absolutely nothing! But it does make you wonder, what the fascination with that character role is. I would suggest that, to some extent, it has to do with human pride and the desire to control our lives.

 

Simon and Garfunkel sang a song called “I am a Rock”. They would seem to confirm this reason.

 

I've built walls.
A fortress deep and mighty. That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock. I am an island.

 

“I don’t need your help, thank you very much. I can take care of myself”. In one form or another, we have all said this to others, to ourselves and to God. “Thanks for the offer God, but I’ve got it”. That is, until we end up in a jam.

 

If you’re a parent, you spend your whole life raising your children to become independent; to live on their own; to learn how to be responsible. Those are important skills and attributes for all of us to develop. But human nature goes wild, and we lose track of who we are, whose we are and whom we serve.

 

Solomon gives us wise advice in these two verses. Here are two different translations that give two unique perspectives. Read them; meditate on them; and let God’s Spirit speak to your heart and change you through them.

 

²⁵ The greedy stir up conflict,
    but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.

²⁶ Those who trust in themselves are fools,
    but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.            NIV

 

²⁵ He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife,
But he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered.

²⁶ He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.    NKJV

 

  

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Above All Else

2 Timothy 2:8-19

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A8-19&version=NIV;PHILLIPS

 

 

During game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals, there was a play that resulted in a heated confrontation between David West, of the Golden State Warriors and Tristan Thompson, of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They got into a major argument with nose to nose shouting and pushing.

 

As a result, both received technical fouls, but nobody really won the argument. Often times, that’s how arguments end; there is no true winner, only losers.

 

In a heated argument, both people are highly invested in their own opinion. If they are

honest, neither is really interested in truly listening to the other person’s point of view. Mostly, they just want to win the argument. That’s not only the case with the above example; that’s human nature. But Paul wrote this to Timothy:

 

¹⁴ Remind your people of things like this, and tell them as before God not to fight

wordy battles, which help no one and may undermine the faith of some who hear them. ¹⁵ For yourself, concentrate on winning God’s approval, on being a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, and who knows how to use the word of truth to the best advantage.            Phillips NT

 

We live in a highly competitive world where winning can cause us to lose perspective; to lose sight of what is truly important. In fact, it’s been said, that winning is everything. But Paul is making the point that although God’s Truth is unchanging, winning God’s approval is, above all else, most important.

 

Before you leave for vacation, it always seems like you have twenty things to do and not enough time to do it. You have to focus and set priorities. You have to ask yourself, “What is most important”? So it was with Paul.

 

He knew it was close to the end of his life when he wrote his letter to Timothy. This helped him to focus on what was the most important thing. Don’t worry about winning every argument but, above all else, concentrate on winning God’s approval.

 

Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.    Proverbs 4:23           NIV

 

 

 

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The $33 Million Man

Proverbs 3:5-10

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203%3A5-10&version=NLT;MSG

 

 

In my office at work there is a picture of the 1968 Detroit Tigers who won the World Series that year.

 

:

Players on that team included:

Ø  Denny McLain, the last Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher to win 30 games in a season.

Ø  Mickey Lolich who won 3 of the 4 World Series games for the Tigers.

Ø  Willie Horton, a power hitter who was the home town hero.

Ø  Gates Brown, the best pinch hitter in the game.

Ø  Future Hall of Famers - Eddie Mathews and Al Kaline.

 

Despite each one of these players being stars, none of them, nor any of their teammates, made as much as $100,000 that year.

 

In 2017, according to the USA Today, the average annual salary for a MLB player is

$4.47 million. At the top of the list is Clayton Kershaw, star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will make $33 million this year in salary alone.

 

Very few people have the level of wealth that Clayton Kershaw has, or for that matter, what the average MLB player makes. But that’s not the point. For us as believers and followers of Christ, the passage in Proverbs gives us direction on how to use our gifts of time, talent and treasure, no matter how much we have or what they are.

 

⁵ Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
⁶ Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.      MSG

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the best part of everything you produce.  NLT

 

The wisdom of Proverbs is that no matter what amount of “wealth” you have, you are to use it for God’s purposes. You are to trust, listen and honor the Lord with all that you have, all that you do and all that you are.

 

 

 

 

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The Golden Rule

Matthew 7:7-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207%3A7-12&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

“Do unto others as you would have them do onto you”.

 

Be nice to others; be generous; do good deeds; show mercy and grace. These are excellent guidelines for us to live by, but when it comes to the daily grind of living, they’re not so easy. In fact, the Golden Rule is easy to quote, but hard to live by. Take driving for instance.

 

I spend about an hour and a half each week day driving to and from work. And I’ve got to confess that it is virtually impossible for me to apply the Golden Rule to my driving. When we moved here in 1985, if you let another driver merge in front of you, they would wave to you to say thanks.

Today, you’re lucky if they don’t flip you off.

 

I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t have driving in mind when he preached about the Golden Rule.

 

What about work? What if you suffer some injustice at work? Maybe you get looked over for a promotion, or a brand new inexperienced employee gets more salary and benefits than you. Maybe a coworker gets a higher bonus because they’re a guy and you’re a girl. Does the Golden Rule apply then?

 

Indeed, it is a hard rule to live by, but Jesus preached about it in his most famous sermon - “The Sermon on the Mount”. Plus he said that it “sums up the Law and the Prophets”. In a corollary statement, he said that “all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”; to love God and love others as yourself.

 

How we treat others is paramount in our relationship with God. When we try to live by faith according to the Golden Rule; when we try to love God and love others as ourselves, we are seeking to show mercy and grace to others by approaching God’s throne of grace.

 

The opening verses of the passage today encourage us to not give up. “Keep on asking… keep on seeking… keep on knocking”. When you do, God will answer; you will find Him; and the door of opportunity will be opened.

 

 

 

 

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