Many Fathers

My universal — and very personal — tribute to Father’s Day…

Many of us have or have had more than one father.

There are biological (birth) fathers, adoptive fathers, step fathers, and father figures.

I myself had two fathers. A biological father whom I never met. I found him and spoke with him once on the telephone when I was an adult, but he didn’t acknowledge me. I realized then that he was not my father after all. He was a sperm donor. And I also realized that I hadn’t missed anything.

My real father — the man who married my mother when I was two — was not my biological father — but he was my real father. He was a good man and loved me as if I was his birth daughter. I didn’t even know that he wasn’t my biological father until I was a teenager, when my mother told me. In fact, I remember exactly what she told me. She said, “Daddy fell in love with you before he fell in love with me.”

I’m glad she told me. We lost him to a heart attack when I was only about 14 or 15. I have great appreciation for the man who accepted me as his own. We may not have had a lot of years together but I remember special moments. I remember when he took me to Arthur’s, an upscale department store in Wilmington (Delaware) and bought me my first formal gown for a prom. And we probably couldn’t afford it. The memory is vague, but I recall it was him, not my mother, who was with me at the time. I remember I was creating something in an art class and wanted some textile paint (whatever that is) for a project. I recall that he bought the paint and dropped it off to me in the classroom that day.

Yes, he was my real father. It wasn’t easy for my Mother when he died. There wasn’t only me. There were the twins, my brother and sister, who were six years younger than I.

I’ve come a long way without a father in my life…

Oh, what’s that I hear?

As I write this, I hear a voice in the distance that I never heard before. It’s a neighbor. For some reason, he is singing outdoors at the top of his lungs…

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie,
That’s amore

When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine,
That’s amore

Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling…

Apparently he is celebrating more than Father’s Day. 🙂

Back to my musings…

Yes, I’ve come a long way without a father in my life.

But I also learned long ago that we all have another father besides our earthly fathers.

Dr. Champion K. Teutsch was one of my teachers in the area of spiritual laws. He reminded me that we have our Universal Father — our spiritual parent who created us and loves us and never ever leaves us.

In major religions, God the Father’s relationship with humanity is that of Creator and created beings, and in that respect he is the father of all and protector of all.

The Father is the Supreme Being and Creator, the Father is God — the Universe, or any other designation you prefer. You can call the Father by any name you choose. It doesn’t matter.

At the beginning of each of my classes, I acknowledge the Presence and call the Father by many names — Infinite Intelligence, Divine Mind, Universal Presence, Infinite Spirit, God, Field of All Possibilities — and I ask that this All Knowing Presence guide me to give the knowledge that will help my students.

But in my private prayers and meditation, I sometimes utter “Father.”

Father… our Universal parent who is always with us. Even when we momentarily forget, or believe that we have been abandoned, our Father is with us…

Always.

— Marilyn

Photo of Hand of God giving life to Adam,Sistine Chapel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling