Good Father, Good Grief
Rev. James L. Snyder
No matter how hard I try avoiding celebrity news it somehow seems to find me. Some things I ignore purposefully
and some things I just cannot ignore, they will not go away.
In my opinion, there should be one TV channel with nothing but celebrity news with the provision that no
other channel carries celebrity news. Anybody who wants to catch up on celebrity news can turn to that channel. Those of us
who do not want to know anything about celebrities can avoid that channel completely.
Celebrity news can be divided into three categories. Celebrity "so-and-so" marries; Celebrity "so-and-so"
divorces; Celebrity "so-and-so" enters rehab. I do not know which category I am least interested in. It is a three-way tie.
Those who report on celebrity news have the easiest job in the world. They can write three stories and then
simply change names as the occasion calls for it.
With all the pain and suffering in our world, why is the divorce of Celebrity "so-and-so" news? Actually,
we would be surprised if Celebrity "so-and-so" did not get divorced. For the life of me, I do not know why any of that crowd
even bothers getting married. For many of them a marriage license is simply a license to have affairs with other people. Once
married they do not seem to recognize their own bed.
I have a growing list of all of the things I do not want to know about and leading the Calvary charge are
celebrities and their goings on. If Shakespeare was right and all the world is a stage, a celebrity marriage is a soap opera.
I do not get angry easily, but when I do, I must vent the flame. This is an area that truly fries my gizzard;
and it is certainly not a happy meal.
It was all over the news. In a recent celebrity divorce, it came out that the man in the middle of this divorce
has a whole basket of dirty laundry. With all the hanging out of dirty laundry among this crowd, you would think they would
be the cleanest people in the world. But one basket of dirty laundry only is replaced by a bigger basket of dirty laundry.
It was discovered that this man (and I use that word in the loosest sense of the meaning) had committed adultery
with several women including an 18-year-old babysitter. As bad as this was it was only the prelude to the worst part. The
same person, which I have a hard time referring to as a man, was spending over $3000 per month on pornography.
$3000 per month on pornography!
I am reminded of what Benjamin Franklin said, "All cats are grey in the dark." If you have seen one cat,
they are pretty much the same everywhere. Anatomy is an anatomy and does not change from one person to another. Obviously,
this person’s father did not have that "little talk" with him explaining the facts of life.
Just as I was getting over this bit of news, someone with crack marbles for brains had the audacity to say,
"But in spite of all this, he is a good father."
Good father? Good grief!
It is obvious they do not understand the definition of either "good," or "father." Thinking that a person
who does that sort of thing can be numbered with good fathers is the most outrageous thing ever perpetrated on the American
public.
This person is no more a good father than an ax murderer is a good representative of the ax manufacturing
industry.
One thing this person’s father failed to explain to him was this obvious truth that seems to be overlooked
in today’s society. The ability to procreate does not a father make.
Dogs do it; cats do it; even long eared donkeys do it.
Speaking of donkeys, pseudo-fathers like this give a bad name to all the fathers striving to be good fathers.
And, there are plenty of good fathers out there, but they are doing such a good job they do not make the news.
Ever since sex became a national recreational pastime, fatherhood went out the broken window. A father cannot
be good unless he is a good husband, and a husband cannot be good unless he is a good man, and a man cannot be good unless
he is a good son. Every good son is the product of a good father.
If a father does not love and respect the mother of his children how can he even think he is a good father?
Fatherhood begins with being a good husband. The Bible says, "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his
wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." (Ephesians 5:33 KJV).
The old maxim is still in good stead; "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage."
There is a very good reason that this is the priority and standard for a good home.
Then the responsibility of a good father is addressed in the Bible. "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children
to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4 KJV).
Every family deserves two things. First, a good husband that loves his wife. Second, a good father that raises
his children right. This is the order that has stood the test of time and cannot be changed.
[The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his
wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.]