..and I cry for Rick and his family.
During my post-fundamentalist Christianity and subsequent post-Christian life, I have been outspoken about Rick Warren's beliefs and message. Actually, due to my fundamentalism, I was even against Rick while still a devout inerrant Bible believing believer.
All of that is meaningless. Stupid life disagreements that have no place in this world when a son is lost to a father.
I have six children. Most days, I love them dearly. Losing one of them, especially to suicide, would devastate me to no end. Every day, after my son's death, I would question every second I spent (or didn't spend) with my son. I would go over every word I ever spoke (or didn't speak) to him. I would remember every after-school program, every sporting event, every conference, every concert, every ballgame, every lunch date I missed and twist them into a list of indictable offenses of the worst kind.
I would weep. And after the tears were gone, I would question everything of who I am as a father.
I ache for Rick Warren today. Today, he and I are simply fathers.
During my post-fundamentalist Christianity and subsequent post-Christian life, I have been outspoken about Rick Warren's beliefs and message. Actually, due to my fundamentalism, I was even against Rick while still a devout inerrant Bible believing believer.
All of that is meaningless. Stupid life disagreements that have no place in this world when a son is lost to a father.
I have six children. Most days, I love them dearly. Losing one of them, especially to suicide, would devastate me to no end. Every day, after my son's death, I would question every second I spent (or didn't spend) with my son. I would go over every word I ever spoke (or didn't speak) to him. I would remember every after-school program, every sporting event, every conference, every concert, every ballgame, every lunch date I missed and twist them into a list of indictable offenses of the worst kind.
I would weep. And after the tears were gone, I would question everything of who I am as a father.
I ache for Rick Warren today. Today, he and I are simply fathers.
