June 21, 2026, the 172nd day of 2026
First Day of Summer
Happy Fathers' Day!
... View MoreJune 21, 2026, the 172nd day of 2026
First Day of Summer
Happy Fathers' Day!
Today is the longest day we have of the year. It is the Summer Solstice. It is the beginning of Summer.
It is also Fathers' Day, when we celebrate fathers.
Both remind me of how fragile time is, how changing.
Time passes in cycles and what seemed so solid can become fragile and then be gone. If we live long enough we will see this a lot.
The father we thought so big and strong, starts fading and then one day, he is gone. And that place where the love of our father once dwelt, now feels vacant and empty. How did he come to fill so much space unobserved by his own family? Why is it onlu apparent to so many only after his passing?
A young boy grows to be a father. What his fathers passed on to him, for good or ill, will affect his idea of fatherhood.
It is more than any man is really ever prepared for. It comes upon him, and he has no idea how it will change him, until it does.
He will do great. He will stumble. It is not like any other job he faced. Fatherhood is a new and uncertain existence. So much responsibility. So little real training.
But God understands.
Fatherhood is a precious position. God Himself is a Father, not only of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, but of all of us who come to Him through Jesus.
It is amazing and powerful to think about.
Let us cherish our fathers and the fathers of our children, while there is still time. And if either or both have passed on, think on them fondly and with love.
Today is also the official beginning of Summer. It is the longest day, but it is still only one day. There is only so much that can be fit into those extra moments.
Today may be longer, but the rest of the days have been building up and now they will be shortening. Then it will be the darkest day and Winter will begin.
Cycles. Movements. Whether we are ready. Whether we are prepared. Or not.
We mark times and seasons by these transitions. God built the systems in for us.
Change is normal, even in cycles.
It is like the moon phases. The Full Moon is perfectly fulll for a very short time. It is either building up or going down. When it is the New Moon it is the darkest moon for a short time.
And the cycle repeats.
God built a rhythm into nature and into the cycles around us.
Life is also a cycle. We go from the womb, where we grew up and hopefully reached the proper stage, then we were born into this world.
Then we grow up outside the womb, living this totally different life from inside the womb--the forgotten place that held our beginnings.
Cycles of movement.
From life to life. Then from life to death. Then from death to life after death.
All cycles are pointing us to something more, some path leading somewhere.
That somewhere is eternity. And the path to eternal life is through Jesus Christ!
Stay strong! Let all the movements of nature remind you of the One Who set all in motion, our Creator God, the Father.
NAN
