A Promise Packed with Possibilities

June's a busy month. It's packed with graduations, weddings, anniversaries, reunions, birthdays, plus Father's Day. Add to that, Juneteenth, a national holiday. So many opportunities to celebrate. But it's also an awkward time in some families. Sometimes, we're better at making promises, than keeping them. In the heat of a moment, we can make or break more than a promise. And the ripple effects spread from us to others. But healing's possible. Just not always together.

Since yesterday was Father's Day, I'm so grateful for my Daddy, Jud, Chad, Matt, Uncle Jim, and my brother, Ralph. But also for so many uncles, grandpas, cousins, nephews, and good men who blessed our family in unique ways. None matters more, however, than the examples they set, both good and not so good ones.

And speaking of examples, Theodore Hesburgh, priest and educator said, "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." That's an easy promise to make in church, all dressed up, exchanging words and rings in front of family and friends. But then Monday comes, the honeymoon's history. Children come along, health and finances are strained. Life gets tough and complicated, like weedwhacking a path through a wilderness of thistles. So, now what?

Well, I offer no quick fix. But, I try to learn from mistakes. I have often been the recipient of mercy, forgiveness and grace. And I've witnessed renewal and holy healing with other family members and friends. God, our Father, has a long view of us. So, I take hope from words written by Frederich Buecher's 6/19 entry in Listening to Your LIfe.

"The final secret, I think, is this: that the words,'You shall love the Lord your God' become in the end less a command than a promise. And the promise is that, yes, on the weary feet of faith, and the fragile wings of hope, we will come to love him at last as from the first he has loved us--loved us even in the wilderness, especially in the wilderness, because he has been in the wilderness with us. He has been in the wilderness for us. He has been acquainted with our grief. And, loving him, we will come at last to love each other, too...' "

And that's my hope for the whole lot of us, wilderness trekkers as spouses, parents, family and friends. I pray we will learn how to truly love God and each other. That kind of love promises to open a world of possibilities for healing, reconciliation and renewal. But such love comes at a cost. And no one knows this better than Jesus.

So, don't give up on them or yourself.

Trust God, love anyhow and keep on trekking.