The four loves of my life
by Joe Glassman
For me, love is devotion, promise, interaction, giving, and risking. High risk; high reward.
The obvious themes for love in my life seem to be self growth, forgiveness, risk taking, and never giving up. My father always said, “Tomorrow is another day.” What he meant, I think, was that another day offers new opportunities to reach out and to try.
Here are four areas of my life where I try to love.
Want to move mountains? Move father first
by Michael Marlin
As a child steeped in mythology, I learned how the gods could be benevolent, tricksters, demons, and furies to be celebrated and feared. Like a primitive man, I sought to appease the gods that were my parents. I thought everybody’s parents were the same.
Children don’t know what parenting is supposed look like, so they accept it, regardless of their circumstances or treatment.
Little Wings: Realizing I’d become a man
by Wayne Lee
I’m lying on a padded table, watching while Dominic tattoos little Mercury wings behind my anklebones on both feet. It’s a few days before my sixtieth birthday, and this is my present to myself. I’ve earned these wings. I deserve them. I’ve wanted to do this since I was 21, back when I was a dancer.
I’m not a dancer anymore—in fact, some days I can barely walk — but I wanted to remind myself that, by God, I can still fly.
A Man’s Call to Man-Making
by Earl Hipp
My wife and I met the Sudanese refugee Ojulu Agote and his family in 1993 through the sponsoring organization that brought them to the United States. Ojulu had experienced the horrors of tribal warfare and then the abuses of refugee life. After making his way through countless bureaucratic barriers, he was without any material resources. He and his family, living in a cockroach infested one-bedroom apartment, were facing a mountain of practical needs.
Three keys for fathers wanting to build a conflict-free relationship with an ex-wife
by Roy Biancalana
If you listen to the mainstream media talk about divorced dads, you would think most of us, at best, are distant and disengaged, or at worst, dangerous dead-beats. Most divorced dads I know love their kids and want the best for them.
Sure, there are men who abandon or even abuse their children, but most of us want to do everything within our power to ensure their complete well-being. To that end, although we no longer live with their mothers, we strive to be a consistent presence in their lives, not because we should, but because we authentically want to see them flourish and be happy.
‘New Warrior’ men make good fathers
by Steve Norcross
Once again, the third Sunday in June is Father’s Day. Greeting card publishers, clothing manufacturers, distilleries, and long-distance phone operators are hoping to realize a profit from the once-a-year obligation many feel to honor their dads. I hope my own kids, at least, call and wish me well, tell me that they love me.
I’m put in mind, this time of year, to recall and honor my fathers and grandfathers. I hope to be so honored by my descendents.
Raising children with emotional intelligence
by Harvey Deutschendorf
Raising children with a healthy degree of self regard is critical. I was raised in a family where there was a steady diet of anger, shaming and put downs, coming from both my father and brother. I’ve since passed through many years of struggle to learn what it takes to have positive self regard. Since I never gained it from my family, I had to find a way to give it to myself. Let me share with you two incidents that reveal some of the lessons I’ve learned the hard way.
The gift: A father’s tale in two parts
by Steven Lee Mankle
A father's blessing.
With Father’s Day upon us, I want to speak about fatherhood in two voices. One voice is the subjective observer. The other voice tells a personal story.
In this endeavor, I am deeply prompted to seek clarity within, and perhaps there will be some small nugget for you to mine as well.
The Gift of Human Birth
Dads, sports and teens: Don’t force things
by Tim O´Connor
The father-son dynamic can be tricky, as I’m sure the mother-daughter dynamic can be tricky. For smoothing out relations among the testosterone-powered beings in a household, sports are assumed to be a slam-dunk, but that’s not always the case.
I am happy both of my boys have become sports fans and active participants, but not without some bumps in the road. Their reality and my expectations often have collided.
A game of golf can unite fathers and sons.
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