The Future is Dark but Hopeful | Light Lives, Celebrate Beauty.
I love this photo of my daughter, it captures the cold, darkness of our world, but the strength and hopefulness of life admidst that challenge.
Today I wanted to share some family photos and a lovely song that always reminds me of my daughter Hazel, and the seriousness of parenthood. Light by 'Sleeping at Last', written by Ryan O'Neal, is a beautiful promise and prayer from a father to his child and I really hope you enjoy it as I do.
Fatherhood: "I promise, I'll do better"
Being a father is an amazing privilege and I am grateful for my two daughters, but children are a deeply difficult challenge and at times I have felt I am not up to the task. This song reminds me of the importance of my role, calls me to be my best, to grow as a parent for them, and it shines a light upon the significance of the life I aim to defend, while giving a sense of what that sacrifice looks like.
"Cause you are loved
You are loved more than you know
I hereby pledge all of my days
To prove it so
Though your heart is far to young to realize
The unimaginable light you hold inside"
-Ryan O'Neal, Sleeping at Last | Light
This song is important to me because it gave words to the depth and weight of my emotion and experience as a father, in a way that brought me to tears. I remember literally weeping the first time I heard this song, just a few weeks after my first daughter was born. At the time I was sleep deprived, and overcome with self-doubt, "how could I possibly raise a child?!" And amidst that fear, anxiety and self-doubt I remember feeling the author was explaining something to me, which I didn't fully understand at that time.
While listening to the lyrics: "May these words be the first to find your ears, the world is brighter than the sun now that you're here. Though your eyes will need some time to adjust, to the overwhelming Light, surrounding us" I realized for the first time that my child was a gift from God, and her life was precious beyond words. Of course I had known that before then, but I hadn't till that moment comprehended the magnitude of that truth.
My daughter needed protection, education and leadership. She needed to learn her own worth and value and I needed to offer these. I needed to become better, and set aside self-doubt, so that she could receive the leadership needed. Yes I would fail her, but I would humbly admit failing, ask forgiveness, and move forward to try and do better.
Light - Sleeping at Last (Ryan O'Neal)
Even now, as I hear this song I am filled with a respect for the beauty of life, the light that we all carry, and the obligation that we share to protect and pass along faith in beauty, love and goodness. Children need to be taught the importance of their life.
As a christian, I feel that the bible is a deeply meaningful text, and it's insistance that we are made in the image of God, is powerful beyond dismissal. If true all people are deeply beautiful and soaked intrinsic value and worth. If false life doesn't have meaning or value: I reject that suggestion and embrace the biblical view.
You are loved more than you know: John 3:16
I take this assertion as fact, and I attempt to let that lead my life.
This in my view is the call of the song: to acknowledge the light we all carry and fight with all our power to foster the development and continuance of that beautiful gift.
"you are loved, you are loved, more than you know. I hearby pledge all of my days to prove it so."
Thank you for your time and attention, I hope you have an awesome day. May you see the joy, beauty and challenge that I see in the lyrics of this song, and be called forward into appropriate response: gratitude, joy and love for the children in your life.
Thanks for reading.