LET us now praise our fathers that begat us.
The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning.There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.
And some there be, which have no memorial; who are perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.
But these were merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been forgotten.
With their seed shall continually remain a good inheritance, and their children are within the covenant.
Their seed standeth fast, and their children for their sakes.
Their seed shall remain for ever, and their glory shall not be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.
The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will shew forth their praise.
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Father’s Day
17 Responses to Father’s Day
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When Michael Novak’s father died, he said something to the effect that it was as if a great tree had fallen on the edge of the forest and for the first time he felt the full force of the wind. If anyone knows the quote I would appreciate their posting it here.
That’s a great quote. I googled it and found it here:
http://www.nationalreview.com/novak/novak200504081242.asp
Perfect for Father’s day. Perhaps the apocrypha is worth perusing after all. Thanks.
[Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 44:1-15.]
Thank you, Adam, a fitting tribute.
Father-love is mysterious to me, inexplicable: why would a father love his offspring? I can understand the sort of father-love celebrated in the section of the passage that you excised—patrilineal pride, glory and honor redounding to the seed and the stock and the sire, and so on. But self-effacement, quiet self-sacrifice, attachment to the little bodies and bones: I experience this kind of love helplessly, from the most primitive recesses of my mammal brain. Men don’t have the benefit of cascades of hormones bathing the brain in the strong juices of mother-love. And in fact, now that patrilineality is passe, many fathers do not have much reason to claim and support the children they beget, or do not seem to. And that makes the father-love I see in so many good men around me all the more mysterious and inspiring.
Praise to those men!
Michael Novak’s comments were published in “National Review” on April 25, 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II. He was commenting on the loss the Polish people felt when the Pope died and then made the following statement:
“Someone told me during the week my father died that losing a father is like having a big tree on the edge of the forest come down, and feeling the wind upon one’s own face. The Poles feel like that today. So do we all.”
Try this link for the full article:
http://www.michaelnovak.net/Module/Article/ArticleView.aspx?id=123
Adam, thank you.
BTW, the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams set some of the verses from Ecclesiasticus to music in his canticle, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”:
Let us now praise famous men
and our fathers that begat us,
such as did bear rule
in their kingdoms;
men reknowned for their power,
leaders of the people
by their council,
and by their knowledge;
such as found out
musical tune and
recited verses in writing.
All these were honoured
in their generation
and for the glory of our times.
But some there be
which have no memorial,
who have perished as though
they have never been.
Their bodies are
buried in peace,
but their name liveth
forever more.
A few scriptures that come to mind on Father’s day:
Sorry for the length, it always looks smaller in the original sources…
Some of us can still get a little patrilineal from time to time, RW.
I don’t get the “Father’s Day thing,” (I also don’t get the “Mother’s Day thing,” but you can’t emphasize that without people calling you an ingrate–Dad’s are fair game). Let’s be honest: If we did the Folger’s Crystal switch in the maternity wards, and everyone were secretly sent home with someone else’s baby, everybody would love everybody else just as much. Aren’t they (and we) just a bunch of stand-ins for other people that might do just as well? (or better?)
The point isn’t that your dad is the best possible dad, than whom no better father for you could be imagined. The point is that he’s your dad. Love isn’t a calculus of benefits recieved and rendered.
Dave,
It’s less about the provision of genetic material, and more about the support, provision for family, provision of love, role model, and so forth. Fatherhood, at the end of the day, doesn’t have all that much to do with the provision of genetic material.
And by the way, according to Jared Diamond’s book (the pre Guns Germs Steel one, I forget the title at the moment), the Folgers experiment is real — somewhere on the order of 30% of kids are not actually the genetic children of their purported father.
DKL: Both the Fathers Day and the Mothers Day things are, as I’m sure you know, international holidays drummed up by greeting card companies, to which we have all taken as if they were ordained in Leviticus. We have Mothers Day because men feel guilty about the way they treat their wives and children feel guilty about the way they treat their mothers. We have Fathers Day as an equity measure, to help us think we have Mothers Day for some other reason.
And, in spite of that, most of us like the chance to say good things about our mothers and fathers.
Actually I believe that recognizing our fathers and mothers goes back a bit further than the creation of greeting card companies.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
(Old Testament | Exodus 20:12)
Hans, recognizing our fathers and mothers goes a lot further back. (I was thinking of the commandment when I referred to Leviticus — I mistakenly said “Leviticus” instead of “Exodus”; what a way to ruin a joke). However, having a holiday for doing so doesn’t. I think Fathers Day and Mothers Day have a lot less to do with the commandment than they have to do with commercialism and the false expiation of guilt.
My dad is just like me, but funny. See, e.g., http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3038#comment-127176 We’re going fishing next week.