Why do we celebrate Father's Day?

War Cry shares a thought for Father's Day.

Many dads and their children will be celebrating their relationships on Father’s Day (Sunday 15 June). Others will be reflecting on and fondly remembering a dad who is no longer alive. 

But there will also be those who will feel that they don’t have anything worth celebrating, because their relationship with their father was not a good one.

It is a sad fact that not every parent is able to provide the loving and supportive care that their children need. There can be a host of reasons why that is the case.

Paul Sawrey’s father was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which meant that ‘he had very intrusive and delusional thoughts’ and ‘a lot of anxiety’.

Paul explains in an interview in War Cry magazine that when his dad took his medication he ‘evened out and was all right’.

‘But the moment he didn’t,’ Paul says, ‘we saw the spike in the illness, and the power it had over his mind.’

Paul describes how he has mixed feelings and memories about his dad, who died 12 years ago, and that Father’s Day is often difficult for him. However, he also describes how he has learnt that, in God, he has a heavenly Father who is strong and stable.

He says: ‘In Psalm 46:1, it says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The psalmist is reflecting on how God knows about our day-to-day and what’s going on, and that he is there in times of trouble.’

Paul’s experience of God is shared by millions of Christians round the world – those who had a good, supportive relationship with their parents as well as those who did not.

Even if our life experiences have taught us to be wary of trusting those who we relied on to look after us, we can always celebrate the love, acceptance and care that God, our heavenly Father, offers us.