Author: Dave Dishman (Page 183 of 458)

I watched a father traveling with his wife and two preschool daughters schlepping luggage at the airport last night. After a ten hour flight from Munich, jet-lagged and exhausted, this dad loaded enough bags and car seats to make an assault on Everest. I hope this morning he’s enjoying a doughnut with his feet up.

Fathers enjoy this day of honor, but good fathers don’t stop doing the work. Some will fix bikes, give advice, or run the grill for dinner. That’s the glory of raising children. Fathers go to work.

I’m grateful for my father, long passed, who never stopped fathering me and my brothers. I’m also grateful for the many good men who’ve influenced my life, from grandfathers and uncles to bosses, co-workers and friends. Today we honor fathers of all types.

As a father, I earnestly pray to our Heavenly Father, asking for the prosperous flourishing of my children and grandchild. Today I call out these words of David:

May our sons in their youth be like well-watered plants, and our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

Because raising the next generations to adulthood, to love and serve the Lord, remains one of the great duties and privileges of fatherhood.

Psalm 144 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Tommaso Pecchioli

One evening as we gathered with our fellow pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, we discussed a story where Jesus appealed to a group of fishermen who immediately left their nets and followed him:

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him (Mark 1:16-20).

Why did these blue collar men drop their livelihoods to immediately follow a teacher named Jesus?

Perhaps in a mysterious way they perceived the one calling them. The Lord of the universe beckoned. The one who molded them in their mother’s wombs revealed a glimmer of depth. A dawning sense of completeness swelled within them.

I have no idea what it would be like to look into the eyes of Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, and hear him say Come, follow me.

But I have a feeling he’d be hard to resist.

Camino de Santiago 2023

Photo from the fish market in Tetouan, Morocco

As you travel the final segments of the Camino de Santiago you enter a Lord of the Rings forest. Massive trees surround you, covered with moss and shielding the undergrowth from the sun. There you walk an ancient path carved over a thousand years.

Pilgrims trudge along, farmers drive their cattle back and forth to fields, and rains erode the path. The faithful carry mud on their boots to points around the globe. All the while, the path sinks.

The way of Jesus deepens much like this trail. In some parts of the world the faith appears tenuous, while in others it expands and strengthens. But year after year the work of the Lord changes the ground upon which we move—even if we fail to notice.

The psalmist prayed, you make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11).

In the forests on the path to Santiago the Lord’s presence more often feels real. Here lies a thin place between the heavenly and earthly realms. The Lord works quietly, eroding our misconceptions and faithlessness, helping us turn toward him and follow.

Sometimes it helps to get into a quiet forest, along a path etched into the earth by millions of fellow seekers, to hear a hint of his whisper.

Camino de Santiago 2023

Picture taken by me this past week, close to Santiago de Compostela