If we have missed that rhythm and melody, we must seek and get back to them. This is where the elders play a role. This morning I was delighted to receive a few messages marking this day, and one of them said: “Although I am not and cannot be your daughter, let me just greet you "Happy Father's Day" just the same. This was addressed to both, my brother and me. I valued this gesture and no doubt my brother too, I am sure.
__________________
by Victor Karunairajan
(June 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Today is Father’s Day, another of these days that have been commercially created no doubt and exploited to the hilt as if 364 days of the year are not father’s but belong to various other people. So what the heck, as long as there is one such day, let me also be the part of the crowd and enjoy it.
Among my people there is a lovely term, Govinda in the kumbal, you shout God’s name in ecstasy along with the crowd. So it is “Govinda” for me too and will spend the day with my daughter and family and enjoy the delights of this relationship.
Last night I had a lovely message from my bishop in Sri Lanka stressing one aspect of fatherhood and that is, as an elder one is a parent to the community. This is our cultural treasure that has come down through the ages and is worthy of being valued, honoured and treasured. A community that honours its elders as precious to its interests contributes to the rhythm and melody that keeps it in harmony.
This is why I often say that we must always be in the dance, the dance as conceived by the sages of old entwining together all of God’s creations in a perfect order.
If we have missed that rhythm and melody, we must seek and get back to them. This is where the elders play a role. This morning I was delighted to receive a few messages marking this day, and one of them said: “Although I am not and cannot be your daughter, let me just greet you "Happy Father's Day" just the same. This was addressed to both, my brother and me. I valued this gesture and no doubt my brother too, I am sure.
Just last month both of us were together for three weeks in Oman during which we had occasions to reflect on our childhood years a great deal. It turned out to be a lovely reminiscence on our early years. As we reflected we turned our observations into an expression in verse and what a lovely exercise it turned out to be. It appeared, like the machine that could not be stopped from turning the sea salty, we just could not bring that legend in poetic style to an end. It was an exercise in “endlessity” as we termed it. It was also a tonic of a work out to two old men playing their final innings.
We could see so many heroes in our lives and role models coming alive and the rich impacts they made on us. Apart from our parents, grand parents, friends of the family, uncles, aunts and others and even cousins, there were dozens of others perhaps much more, who have in some way or other been part of our growing up years. Those who were positive in their relationships made us grow in the right direction and those who were negative helped us to keep our poise and dignity in good order.
Of course some of us could be badly influenced and this is where our parents come in, often as our saviours. Children who are privileged to have both parents have a better chance provided their parents have the right visions and are not mired up in the pride and prejudices of the past Children with one surviving parent have an added task of helping that parent to be able to function as both as father and mother. The same applies to single parents who have to play double roles without them being obvious. There is a singular joy that can be extracted out of this kind of challenges.
What it all ends up with is the question as to how we adjust ourselves to various situations especially when we recognize that every parentage has its unique facets too some rather trivial and some quite crucial to the best interests of the family. The truth here is that we, whether we are in single existence or part of a family every one of us who have become adults have a responsibility to be a parent in the community.
We have to look ahead and try to see the future through the visions of our children but at the same time encouraging them to appreciate the richness of our culture and that all of creations are that of one family, the human family and God created them all.
It is therefore absolutely necessary for us to keep the rhythm and melody of human life and all of creations in harmony.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
__________________
by Victor Karunairajan
(June 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Today is Father’s Day, another of these days that have been commercially created no doubt and exploited to the hilt as if 364 days of the year are not father’s but belong to various other people. So what the heck, as long as there is one such day, let me also be the part of the crowd and enjoy it.
Among my people there is a lovely term, Govinda in the kumbal, you shout God’s name in ecstasy along with the crowd. So it is “Govinda” for me too and will spend the day with my daughter and family and enjoy the delights of this relationship.
Last night I had a lovely message from my bishop in Sri Lanka stressing one aspect of fatherhood and that is, as an elder one is a parent to the community. This is our cultural treasure that has come down through the ages and is worthy of being valued, honoured and treasured. A community that honours its elders as precious to its interests contributes to the rhythm and melody that keeps it in harmony.
This is why I often say that we must always be in the dance, the dance as conceived by the sages of old entwining together all of God’s creations in a perfect order.
If we have missed that rhythm and melody, we must seek and get back to them. This is where the elders play a role. This morning I was delighted to receive a few messages marking this day, and one of them said: “Although I am not and cannot be your daughter, let me just greet you "Happy Father's Day" just the same. This was addressed to both, my brother and me. I valued this gesture and no doubt my brother too, I am sure.
Just last month both of us were together for three weeks in Oman during which we had occasions to reflect on our childhood years a great deal. It turned out to be a lovely reminiscence on our early years. As we reflected we turned our observations into an expression in verse and what a lovely exercise it turned out to be. It appeared, like the machine that could not be stopped from turning the sea salty, we just could not bring that legend in poetic style to an end. It was an exercise in “endlessity” as we termed it. It was also a tonic of a work out to two old men playing their final innings.
We could see so many heroes in our lives and role models coming alive and the rich impacts they made on us. Apart from our parents, grand parents, friends of the family, uncles, aunts and others and even cousins, there were dozens of others perhaps much more, who have in some way or other been part of our growing up years. Those who were positive in their relationships made us grow in the right direction and those who were negative helped us to keep our poise and dignity in good order.
Of course some of us could be badly influenced and this is where our parents come in, often as our saviours. Children who are privileged to have both parents have a better chance provided their parents have the right visions and are not mired up in the pride and prejudices of the past Children with one surviving parent have an added task of helping that parent to be able to function as both as father and mother. The same applies to single parents who have to play double roles without them being obvious. There is a singular joy that can be extracted out of this kind of challenges.
What it all ends up with is the question as to how we adjust ourselves to various situations especially when we recognize that every parentage has its unique facets too some rather trivial and some quite crucial to the best interests of the family. The truth here is that we, whether we are in single existence or part of a family every one of us who have become adults have a responsibility to be a parent in the community.
We have to look ahead and try to see the future through the visions of our children but at the same time encouraging them to appreciate the richness of our culture and that all of creations are that of one family, the human family and God created them all.
It is therefore absolutely necessary for us to keep the rhythm and melody of human life and all of creations in harmony.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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