Today is Fathers Day!

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to

open your mouth and remove all doubt.

—Abraham Lincoln ... or Mark Twain?

Google is unsure.

Yahoo, Ask and Wiki too.

In the absence of citation, does the quote become a simple maxim? A nugget of homespun wisdom? A word of caution to a blogger, from her husband?

I often open my mouth. I often open my mouth and wantonly risk revealing that I am a fool. I am painfully aware of my humanity.

Even a fool is considered wise when she keeps silent,

discerning, when she seals her lips.

—Proverbs 17:28 HCSB *

A fool does not find joy in understanding

but only in expressing her own opinion.

—Proverbs 18:2 GW *

I want to read for myself, discover and experience understanding, risk asking God to reveal. I want to revel in the 'ah ha' moments.

This morning in reading the family tree of Jesus, there is an 'ah ha' moment, a big reveal, something I missed before: the name of Joseph, in cadence with the list of biological fathers who came before him in Jesus' family tree. Matthew 1

Joseph, an adoptive father, is father. Undifferentiated. I find joy in this affirmation of adoptive fatherhood as fatherhood. Are there other adoptive fathers in the family tree of Jesus?

I treasure the Josephs around me, precious men who parent through the torment of the cruel and insane question society so often asks: "But who is their real father?"

Those who consider themselves religious and yet

do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves,

and their religion is worthless.

James 1:26 NIV

Religion that God our Father accepts as

pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress

and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27 NIV

I am inspired by precious men around me, fathers like Joseph who love the children God placed in their care.

Today is Fathers Day! Let's celebrate the Josephs!

Rw


* adjusted for gender, i am inherently a she