Eavesdropping

Fathers have evolved over the years

from armchair-sitting, hat-wearing, pipe-smoking thinking men

peeking from behind grey crinkly newspapers

to offer stern wisdom from time to time

coming home from work to put their feet up

and remind the little ones to speak only when spoken to.

But these days call for a different daddy

those ant-finding, barbie-playing, couch-wrestling heroes

jumping out from closets with flashlights under their chins

and building forts with chairs and garish Disney character blankets

who get down on the floor to lift up their children with their feet

and it reminds me of the Gospels with You in the thick of it.

Somehow his adoration for her in those silly G.I. Joe games

giddy laughter from the basement and back porch squeals

bare foot walks and late night mermaid stories

it all feels more like love letters addressed to me.

And somehow Your love for humanity

in Genesis rainbows and a stone rolled away

those long walks from town to town from the manger to the cross

somehow it all feels more like eavesdropping

on the evolution of a loving father

from that arm chair throne to the toy-cluttered carpet

and the love letter You meant for all of us.

"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express." Joseph Addison

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him." Psalm 103:13