A Father's Day Note: Dear Elkanah...

Reading:   1 Samuel 1

Here we have the plight of all husband's, laid bare in a single verse...

1 SAMUEL 1:8

8    Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? 

Hannah had not been able to conceive and was very distraught even to the point where she quit eating.  Poor Elkanah just wanted her to be happy and enjoy what she did have, namely him.  This plight, as I have called it, is a familiar one in that all men feel neglected by their wives when it comes to their place in relation to that of their children - even the unborn ones, as Elkanah suffered.

I'm not going to offer up any sage advice in regards to this because I have none to offer.  I simply wanted to point out that I, you, we, are not the first to feel this way.  We stand in a long line of neglected fathers: Famous, Infamous, Prize winners from (Nobel to Oscar), Olympians, Medal of Honor recipients, Geniuses, Leaders of men, Sexiest man alive honorees, Composers, that guy down the street, and the guy next door, all have felt this sting of neglect.

We many, we neglected many, need find comfort in the camaraderie of our fellow members of this banded group of men...Here's to you, Elkanah, and all the rest of us, our day is upon us, Father's Day, and on the morrow we shall reap in the benefit of our title and be neglected no more!

Stand up and be proud
Ye Father's of men!

~Kipling