Once upon a time, there was a father and his little boy.  The man was dutiful and taught his son diligence, the arts and sciences, and the importance of church as well.  Every Sunday he would show him how and when to stand and kneel, fold his hands, and bow his head.  The father showered his little boy with gifts of praise and gave him all his heart’s desire.  His precious child was never without food, clothes, or shelter.  Happily, and without exception, he blessed him with all the means at his disposal, and his son gained the materials for a life of riches and great achievement.  By his father’s hand and words, the boy was never the subject of wrath, abuse, rebuke, or condescension.   In his academic, professional, and personal life, he gained much success, his rewards making him a happy and fulfilled man.

   Not far away, and at the same time, another little boy was born to a different father.  This father seemed a selfish and uncaring man and to his son he gave a life of deprivation and suffering.  Few gifts of praise or blessing came from this father’s mouth.  Instead, the little boy felt his father didn’t care about the void growing in his soul.

   When he saw the other little boys in the neighborhood, he wondered if their fathers were as mean as his was.  But, he concluded this was not so, because they were always smiling and they had clean clothes, and their lunches were always better than his.  They even had deserts!  So, while his friends seemed to be having a good time of it, few smiles came from our little boy’s face and little laughter from his voice.  As his father pressed down on him over the years a growing melancholy grew within his soul  and morphed into what he felt as an utter abandonment.

   Nearing the end of his years, the first little boy surveyed his life.   Moved along by the force of his father’s teachings, he set sail through a life of approval and the pleasures of his achievements. He found much satisfaction in his father’s ways and built his life upon those precepts of success. But over time, slowly and almost imperceptibly, he lost the brightness in his eyes which was his common fare in childhood.  The easy feeling in his heart vanished as well, and in its place came a sense of foreboding and uncertainty.  Bewilderment grew to consume his last days.  Despite the abundance surrounding him, his heart was empty, save for anxiety and fear.  In the end he had no peace, and neither was hope his final blessing.

   As his life was different from the first little boy, so too was the end for the second man.  The emptiness of his heart grew large through childhood, and matured into a desperate need for something he had yet to identify.  Time and again he tried to fill the void inside himself.  He searched for understanding but came upon confusion; he sought out knowledge but was deceived; he surrendered to his passions only to find his self-respect cast aside.   But, the man pressed on.

One day he remembered, and prayed.  Then, with desperation nearly overwhelming him, there began to grow within him a certainty in the rightness of his cause.  That certainty gave rise to a promising hope and continued growing, taking on form and substance.  His sense of hope deep inside him grew stronger and  spread through his soul.  When his days became few, he came to know in his mind and hold close to his heart, the peace which had never been his.   In the last moments of his life the soft glow of peace wonderful smile washed over his face, and with great expectation, he slowly closed his eyes.

Who was the good father?

Adapted from a sermon  by the great 18th century American Puritan Pastor and Reformed Theologian, Jonathan Edwards.