NOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD

 “What’s with the date that it keeps coming in reminding?” I asked, and then asked.

Have thought of relevant occasions just to calm this wondering mind, but all these didn’t ring any bells with me. Then, in one last try – voila – it’s actually my father’s death anniversary.

I’m old, but not that old. And so it has nothing to do with agedness. My forgetfulness on this date is just the opposite of denial or anticipation – I had let go in years, and moved on.

That’s it!

Besides, I don’t really observe death anniversary although I treasure dead loved ones and friends for eternity. Sorry to say, this is just the way I perceive people who’ve gone before us.      

“So what’s this about?”

Have asked that myself as well.

So far, a single reason I could compose is the literal explanation aside from one personal revelation. That this date was unordinary day when the Creator took away the presence of an earthly Abba – to complete my orphan status; to be in total dependence on the Father of the fatherless; and to prune me becoming a grown up person above all.

I struggled to understand though, but life didn’t stop being an orphan. The most hurting scenario year after year was to celebrate Father’s Day. That’s when I had to sigh in pain, and in silent tears seated on the bench while others honor their fathers.

It took faith to believe that I still have the greatest Father. That’s when I understood the finiteness of an earthly ones – they couldn’t be around at all times to protect, to provide, to rescue, to comfort , to guide, and to know the deepest part of me – there’s One and only One -  the Father of the fatherless.    

And pruning was required to see each purpose along the way. It doesn’t take psychological analysis to understand a child’s longing of a father. For even animals I think are subject to that yearning. But it was in this pruning I learned to grow independently in human speaking.

Regarding that personal revelation – no thorough biblical scrutiny involves in fact– it is just an interpretation of my own – a sort of reminder to be grateful about to selfless individuals who were  there in the absence of a biological father.

Thank you very much for your examples!

God takes away, yet God gives more. When my real father was gone, He sent three special people dear to my heart – they fathered me in various ways – an adopted father who provided my financial needs most of the time; a foster father who welcomed me in when I was homeless and hungry; and a spiritual father who admonished me to walk in the likeness of God’s image.

They may have played major differences in my life, but they have got similarities in many ways to be honest – one, they’re all the Master’s servants called to serve the needy; two, all of them have compassion for the fatherless; three, each has a deeper perception of the true essence of a father.

Now, the twenty-third of November is just a date I’ve forgotten in many chances, but now I see it a different perspective.