On My Son’s Birthday

Dear Lord; Eight years ago today, You Blessed me with my youngest son Aidan.  He’s a remarkable child Lord, and although he’s extremely good at driving me crazy I love him to no end, and am VERY proud of him.  Thank You for the amazing Gift that he is, and for continuing to Bless our lives by having him in them.

As I sit contemplating the last eight years, it very much comes back to the email I sent you a couple of days ago.  Becoming a father has by far changed my life and directed my path more than any other single factor.  I imagine, in a limited way my love, cares, fears and wishes for my two boys must be similar to the way You feel for all Your Children.  I realize Your Perfect Love is infinitely more robust, but when I think about how deeply my two children affect me, my mind reels at the thought of being a Father to all the people of the world.  You are indeed a Wonderous God, and an amazing Father to us all.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil

Stillness by Any Other Name…

Dear Lord; This morning Lord, I’d like to talk about Stillness.  As I’ve mentioned to You before, there are certain times and places that bring about a mental and spiritual Stillness for me that makes my commune with You so much clearer.  I know what they are for me and usually how to achieve them, but I always find it fascinating to see how others find their moments of clarity.  I was reading another Blog this morning written by a lady named Gail Brenner and came across her article called “The Art of Discovering the Spaces In-Between”.  It was quite well written and although not directed specifically at communing with You, I realized that what she was describing was exactly how my Stillness feels.

Along those same lines, I’ve been working to try and find ways to achieve Stillness outside my normal “happy places” as of late.  My life, as well as the lives of many around me, has been amazingly tumultuous over the last year, and sometimes it’s become very difficult to absorb and balance all of the negative things happening around me.  Retreating to those moments of Stillness very much helps to recharge my Spiritual Batteries, so I’ve been working to find ways throughout the day to access those lines of communication with You.  Call it Prayer, Meditation, Communing with the Universe or whatever You like, the more I can tap into those moments the closer I feel to You, and the more I can focus on Your Plan for me and Honoring Your Grace.

Please help us Heavenly Father, to find that Inner Peace and Stillness in all of us so that we may allow more of Your Love to go forth into the world.  The louder I hear You, the more I learn and the better I feel.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil

Thanks Dad…

Dear Lord; As I’ve mentioned to You before, I think becoming a father was truly the starting point of my Spiritual Awakening, and the path to growing my relationship with You.  In fact, this morning while searching for inspiration for our correspondence, I kept coming back to the relationship I have with my children.  That got me wondering, if being a father to my two boys was so powerful a force in my life, how must it feel to be the Father of all of us?  I worry endlessly about my kids, revel in their successes, cringe at their pain and watch them grow with adoration and fascination.  I can’t even imagine experiencing that on the scale You have.  Well, as one of Your Children, I just want to say Thank You for all you do Father;  Your unending Love, Your sacrifices, Your Grace and Your bountiful Blessings in all our lives each day.  And Lord, I especially want to thank You for allowing me the Blessing of being a father myself.  It has truly opened my eyes and my heart to You more than ever before.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil

Prayers for Motivation…

Dear Lord; First off, I want to thank you for a very nice weekend.  I was Blessed to spend the bulk of my time the last two days with my Family and good Friends, and other than a serious lack of sleep, enjoyed it thoroughly.  This morning however, I’m having a serious problem finding my inner motivation.  It’s not that there’s anything specifically wrong, I’m just not focusing well on how I can make the most from this day and serve Your Path for me to the fullest.  Therefore Father, my prayers today are for inspiration.  Please fill my head and my heart with Your Presence, and guide me to conduct myself in such a way as to honor Your Blessings in all I do.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil

From a Father to The Father

Dear Lord; This morning Father, I’m just going to brag a little about my children.  I attended a parent-teacher conference for Aidan this morning, and it was just so heartening to hear the wonderful words of praise from his teacher.  He’s doing very well academically, but that wasn’t really what made me leave grinning from ear to ear.  His teacher started the meeting by saying that for conferences this period, she sat down and came up with three adjectives to describe each child.  In Aidan’s case, she had a hard time choosing only three but the ones she came up with as the top selections just made my day; Curious, Sweet and Helpful.  She then spent time emphasizing to me that while he was a wonderful student, he was just a pleasure to have in her class because he was so focused on caring for and helping everyone around him.  (~Insert Beaming Father Face Here~)  Shannon and I try very hard to instill a sense of empathy and sense of compassion in our boys, but like every parent we have days where we’re just sure we’re missing the mark somewhere.  Today was a wonderful validation that through all of it, we’re doing something right.  Thank You so much for Blessing us with our two Angels, and for helping me see that glimpse of the Men we’re trying to raise.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil

Thoughts on Selflessness

Dear Lord; In yesterday’s email Lord I focused on selfishness whereas today, I’d like to talk about selflessness.  Today, in our Country we celebrate Veteran’s Day.  I’m privileged to know, and have known quite a few people in the Military over the years as well as their families and I can honestly say that in my opinion, what they do for us is one of the most selfless pursuits someone can take.  Therefore as we focus on their sacrifices, selflessness and contributions to our Country today, I ask that You Bless these honorable men and women.  Please protect them, and keep them focused and heartened against doubt so that they may know that what they do is valued and very much appreciated.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil