HONORING FATHERS, PAST AND PRESENT

THE LEGACY OF FATHER’S DAY: HONORING FATHERS, PAST AND PRESENT

(All scriptures in this article are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.)

Kenneth Sullivan

Father’s Day is a national holiday celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June each year. How did Father’s Day start?

It all started in Spokane, Washington in 1909, with a citizen named Sonora Smart Dodd, who recognized her father, William Smart—a veteran and a single parent who raised her and her five brothers by himself after his wife died from giving birth to their youngest child—after she attended a Mother’s Day program at church. Dodd then realized that fathers should have a national holiday to honor them, just as mothers have a holiday honoring them. She asked two associations to assist her in creating a Father’s Day event in Spokane: the Spokane Ministerial Association (SMA) and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). She told them she wanted Father’s Day on June 5th because it was her father’s birthday. However, the SMA insisted they have it on the third Sunday of the month to give them enough time to prepare sermons about fathers after Mother’s Day. On the 19th of June in the next year (1910), Dodd, the SMA, and the YMCA put their services to celebrate the first Father’s Day in the community in action: Dodd delivered presents to disabled fathers; the SMA ministers preached sermons about fatherhood, and the members of the YMCA decorated their lapels with fresh-cut red or white roses in honor of their fathers—red for the living fathers, white for the deceased.

These events in Spokane became so prevalent that they reached Washington, D.C., putting the idea for Father’s Day on the path to becoming a national holiday. However, it did not come immediately, maybe because of the parallels with Mother’s Day. Before Father’s Day became a national holiday, the following procedures had taken place by Congress and four presidents of our nation: Congress introduced the first bill of Father’s Day becoming a holiday in the country in 1913, but it did not pass, despite President Woodrow Wilson’s encouragement to proceed. Eight years later (1921), President Calvin Coolidge signed a resolution to favor Father’s Day “to establish more intimate relations between fathers and children and to impress upon fathers the full measures of their obligations.” Forty-five years later (1972), President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order for Father’s Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Six years later (1972), Congress passed an act making Father’s Day a national holiday for President Richard Nixon to sign into law. Hence, Sonora Smart Dodd’s desire to have a federal holiday for Father’s Day finally came true. ( www.almanac.com/forgotten-history-fathers-day).  

Since 1972, America has celebrated Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June each year. But should those who have fathers in their everyday lives honor their fathers every day instead of on Father’s Day?

We Americans have observed Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June every year to pay tribute to all fathers in our nation since 1972. However, we Christians must remember to follow God’s commandment to honor our fathers every day of our lives (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 15:16), not just on Father’s Day. Therefore, God gave everybody a father to beget life for us.  So, we who have fathers who are devoted to us and a part of our everyday lives should cherish them daily. Beyond the third Sunday in June, let us esteem fathers through acts of kindness, appreciation, and consistent expressions of love. For it is written in Scripture: fathers are glory to their children (Proverbs 17:6).  On the other hand, not everybody in America has a father present. One reason for that is that they lost him to bereavement.

Many children lost their fathers through death, and some fathers lost their children through death. In that case, Father’s Day should be a time of remembrance for grieving fathers and children so that mourning fathers and children can remember and cherish all the good times they had with them. On this holiday, individuals, churches, and communities should use the day to have prayer meetings or support groups to reach out to, pray for, and give comfort and sufficient support to grieving fathers and children. Fathers and children not only lose each other by bereavement but also by estrangement.

Circumstances between fathers and children cause them to separate, making them estranged. In that case, Father’s Day should be a time for peace and reconciliation to restore and reconcile estranged relationships between fathers and children. Hence, they would make peace by setting aside all differences and forgiving all grievances they had made against each other. Furthermore, that would bring a fresh start to their relationship, bridging love, harmony, and unity.

In conclusion, Father’s Day is a significant holiday in America, giving recognition to all fathers in our nation, living or deceased.  Sonora Smart Dodd intended for America to have a holiday honoring fathers, just as we have a Mother’s Day holiday honoring mothers. Therefore, from a spiritual standpoint, all Americans should celebrate Father’s Day to bring glory to God, our Creator, by obeying His commandments to honor our fathers, not only through obedience, but honor them by cherishing them, caring for them, and showing them respect—Kenneth Sullivan.

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