Skip to main content

The Smell of a Dad

One of my favorite lines in the old movie City Slickers 2 comes when all the guys are out in the middle of the wilderness and Duke Washburn says he can tell his dad has been there. (For those who have not seen it, or have forgotten, they are all out in the wilderness looking for the Washburn treasure, which Duke's dad hid.)

Two of the city slickers, Phil and Mitch, start having a conversation about this.
Phil: How can you tell your dad's been here?
Mitch: It's just like how we always knew when dad had been in the bathroom.

Well, I'm a dad now. I want to say this appropriately for all my internet fan out there. Sometimes I am guilty of passing on biological unfriendliness. I suppose everyone does, but my 3-year old, never at a loss for being cute, experienced this more closely than I would have intended the other day.

I let one fly, and much like a burglar, I fled the scene. 30 seonds later my wife is gagging while my 3-year old calmly states, 'I can feel it on my cheek.'

I'm not really sure that's a good thing, however, I'm going to spiritualize it for a moment. Wouldn't we all like to feel our Father that close all the time? I mean that for even the parts of God that don't smell nice to others. I had a dad that could cause some smells that would make the stink fall off other smells. Aside from that, I took great comfort in knowing he was around. There are still many days when his presence would be comforting.

But no matter if your earthly dad has been gone for 4 years or 40 years, you can find comfort in a Heavenly Father who can be sniffed out wherever you are. Consider feeling for Him near your cheek, then asking Him into your heart.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...

But I Wanted It

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...