21st June 2009,
I am glad that the 21st June is considered Father's day...It also happens to be the longest day in the year.
The 21st of June is the Summer Solstice. The longest day where the Sun takes its sweet time to set...
There are no coincidences.
Traditionally, the Father/the Masculine is associated with the Sun.
And without the Sun, there is no Growth. Without the Sun, there is no light for Guidance, Guidance in worldly affairs -- day light activities. The Moon is reserved for the night and this is traditionally associated with the Feminine domain...But I will not get into that, because today, the focus is on the Sun.
The Sun is also associated with Authority, Rule of Law, Leadership, Logos, the Intellect...
The Father in his manifested "daylight" dimension is all of the above and more...
So for me, it makes total sense that Father's day is celebrated on the longest day of the year - the Summer Solstice.
I do realize that many Fathers fall short of the Sun's ideal...
They probably have embodied the negative aspects of the Sun...They burn, scorch, set ablaze...
They might fail in guiding, in providing, in giving the warmth...the growth.
They are the human embodiment of the Sun...and humans are so terribly imperfect...some more than others...
But still, had it not been for that father of your's, you would still be a coagulated tiny sperm, buried, hanging around, in some testicle...
Thanks to him, and to whatever turned him on, you are here today...you are here reading this post, thinking, contemplating, feeling...you are here today, very alive...
Probably cursing your father, but you're still here.
God bless him for bringing you here.
No parent is perfect, and fathers are no exceptions... There is NO perfect father...
And some are way more imperfect than others - granted.
But I believe in honoring the memory, regardless. Regardless if they were "good" or "bad", regardless if they are alive or dead, regardless if they were the Sun or just its shadow...
I, personally, loved my father. He was a kind, generous, highly sensitive, highly intelligent man...he was not perfect either...
And still, I love him today, more than ever.
I am indebted to him in so many ways...I only realized how indebted to him I was, was when he was gone.
Even what appeared as negatives, I realized today, were absolutely necessary for my growth...He was a teacher "malgré" despite of himself...
Our parents are our best teachers, our best gurus...even though for some the lesson is very hefty...
It's okay. It really is. Because deep inside yourself you know it was meant to be that way, for a specific purpose...
I hear many complaining of their parents, their fathers (since this the subject of the day).
He was/is hard, cruel, authoritarian, stubborn, cold, unavailable... he abandoned me, he beat me up, he abused me, he was never there...etc...
Yes, all of that may be true. But look at where you are at today.
Thanks to his cruelty and hardness, you are developing compassion or trying to. Thanks to his stubbornness you have become a rebel espousing greater causes...
Thanks to his coldness, you are asking yourself questions about relationships...
Thanks to his unavailability, you are here today reading this post about Fathers...
Our parents are our best gurus, our best teachers...I will never cease repeating that.
Some of you may argue -- "I have become like my own dad...I repeat the same stuff over and over again..."
I say to you -- not really.
If you can say I have become like my own dad, then you cannot be.
There is already a separation in consciousness...A germinating seed that is growing apart, again thanks to him...someone you can compare yourself to, hence you are already separated...de facto.
Okay so what's with this introduction ?
Nothing much. Just to tell you, that your dads however imperfect they are, are still your dads...and your best teachers...your best guides for growth, just like the Sun.
And of course, being an Iraqi, I cannot but think of the thousands of Iraqi fathers, however imperfect and "patriarchal" they may be...
I can't help think of how much they have already sacrificed either with their own lives, forsaking it all - family, wife, children, fortune, fame - for a higher cause, for a higher Logos...
I cannot but pay tribute and reverence to those who sacrificed worldly matters for a just higher cause/mission...
I cannot but pay my respects to those who are still in cages, imprisoned in an eternal night, dying to see the light of day, who despite the horrendous torture they are subjected to, have only one wish, greater than dying - that of seeing their wives and children one more time...
I cannot but acknowledge the thousands of fathers, who labor day and night with a great sense of guilt, angst, worry...to provide for their families...
I cannot but honor the Iraqi man, whose daily life is made of extreme hardships, humiliations, dangers, risks and sacrifices...
This is his way of loving under Occupation.
And to Him I dedicate this post.
Painting : Iraqi artist, Saad Najm.
