My Dad!
Going to the yearly family reunion last Sunday made me think a lot about my Dad this week. He’s been gone well over 10 years now and I still miss him so much. I credit my Dad for giving me the courage I needed to stand up and speak the truth of what I believe. He wasn’t a religious man (thank God), but what he was spoke volumes to all that knew him because he was real. He was loving and kind, and always ready to help someone less fortunate. I always thought to myself, “How could such a good, kind, and loving man not go to church”, but now I realize he couldn’t bring himself to be a phoney. He tried several times, but phoney was just not in his blood.
I don’t mean to say that all people who go to church are phoneys but the reality is that church environment oftens breeds phoney people. I long for the day when the church will quit its judging and condeming of others and just follow the only important thing, To LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
I think if my Dad were still alive he would say “Well done my son”. In fact, I think I just heard him say it.
I love you Dad.
What a Glorious Day you have had! When we hear our Father say well done!
That is one of the most powerful things that can ever happen in a man’s life!
So on behalf of all of your friends let me say to you Cliff Hazelbaker, “Well done my good and PERFECT Friend”!
Love ya!
Geo
What a touching post.
I think we’re always doing our best, because that all we can do. And i suspect God is always saying, “Well done.”
Love ya
Cliff,
you were fortunate to have that role model. I can only hope that I will break the chain in my family and have the same effect on my kids.
pj
PJ…..You already have my friend.
Geo……It takes a perfect person to know one.
Kevin…..Isn’t a wonderful feeling to know He loves us THAT MUCH.
Nice post, Cliff! I love your way with words.
I guess I’m in PJ’s camp. My dad wasn’t especially loving, or caring. I loved him because he was my dad, and helped me grow up as best he could. His character became a big part of who I was for most of my life, and I’m so glad to be breaking free of it. As I find myself drawn into the perfect love of the Father, I sense the layers of “who I used to be” falling off. I think they are falling into hell along with the tares, the chaff, and the “bad fish”. All of us are made of spirit and of flesh. And the more we can separate the two, and follow after the spirit, the better off we will be… until, ultimately, the flesh falls away permanently and we experience life as pure, perfect spirit.
This resonates. The whole conversation. These feelings, these yearnings. The desire to break free from the cycles, the karma. The acknowledgement of freedoms past down from the fathers. And anger too, I am sure, lurks beneath the surface.
I said goodbye to my Dad just over a year ago. Whereas I had believed that I would remember him as weak and absent, I remember him with grace, and see his yearning for strength and presence as the seed which helped me undersatand G-d in a deeper way, the way of Grace and the Reintegration of All.
My posting version of your post Cliff is here:
http://soundandsilence.wordpress.com/2007/06/15/in-memory-a-letter/
This is your long-lost cousin from Nashville! I’ve been reading your posts for awhile and enjoying seeing where God is leading you. Your dad was a great blessing in my life–and still is, as memories often settle in my heart and make me laugh, think, feel comforted, etc. We’d love to see ya’ll! Please come any time!
Linda,
What a pleasant surprise to hear from you. Nancy & I miss all of you so much and are always hoping someday we can see everyone of you again. Like you, I have such fond memories of your Dad. Those three Hazelbaker boys sure were special. (Cliff, Jack, Joe). We were all very fortunate to have been loved by them in this life. Thanks for the nice comment.