The Road - A Father’s (Day) Lament
As we find ourselves on the eve of Father’s Day 2025, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that this holiday can carry a lot of complexity and ambivalence for many of us.
Perhaps you’ve stood at the Father’s Day card display, desperately trying to find one that doesn’t feel like a lie — or that’s neutral at best. Maybe the ache comes from the absence of a father to celebrate — for years, decades, or perhaps ever. Maybe your father is no longer with you, and now you’re fighting to hold onto childhood memories… or perhaps, it’s those very memories that haunt you.
I could list a hundred different scenarios that might describe where you find yourself this Father’s Day. But no matter where that place is — whether you’re feeling everything or nothing at all — I want to invite us to offer our hearts and bodies the gift of honor.
It’s okay to feel whatever may surface. There’s a reason for every feeling. Honoring the truth of our relationships is always the first step toward healing.
With healing in mind, I’d love to share a poem with you — a reflection inspired by one of Scripture’s most well-known parables: the story of the Prodigal Son.
This is a poem I wrote when I reimagined the parable through the eyes of the Father — the one who waited, watched, and never gave up.
The Road (A Father’s Lament)
Sad is the road that carried you far from home.
Broken, my heart — loving enough to let you wander.
Empty, the chair that waits at our table.
Steadfast, my prayer: that no harm will find you.
Long are the days, and lonelier still the nights,
Void of your laughter, unlit by your light.
Tested, my hope — that your thoughts might turn towards home.
Resolved — I will not lose it.
Ready, the robes and ring — for a fresh, sacred start.
Forever, my love — that goes farther than your wandering.
Beyond famine, fear, and distant fields.
It calls you by name.
Waiting, is the road — to guide you back to me.
My eyes — fixed upon it.
Heart open,
Arms wide.
The Road.
(written by Esperansita Bejnarowicz)
As good as our earthly fathers may be, they have — and most likely will — fail us in both small and significant ways. This is not a justification or a free pass; it’s simply the truth.
Inevitably, our capacity to experience God as Father has been shaped by our relationship with our earthly fathers. Until we allow ourselves to acknowledge this, we will continue to see God through the filter of our earthly experience.
No matter where your relationship with your earthly father stands, we all have a Heavenly Father who is committed to loving us beyond what our hearts can fully imagine. His love is steady, dependable, and always available.
And though His love is like no other, He will never force it upon us or demand that we receive it.
My prayer is that these words fall gently on your heart — that they might serve as an invitation to turn, even slightly, toward your Heavenly Father. And in doing so, may that turning become a silent prayer: "Help me see You more clearly."
“What manner of love is this… that we should be called the children of God?” - 1 John 3:1
