Were I to be as kind
as my father,
who saw God’s face
equally in the rich
and the poor alike;
Whose honesty was
impeccable, whose
integrity could never
be challenged, who
worked always for
the greater good;
Whose wisdom was
greater than Solomon’s;
Whose compassion and
love defined his every
action and word.
Were I to be as kind
as my mother,
who had such great
trust in God,
in whom her twelve year old self
found comfort and love
at the deaths of her mother and sister;
Who taught in the ghetto
schools of Pittsburg,
Whose knowledge never
inflated her ego but
compelled her to serve
others in love,
Who centered all on her
husband and family,
Who invited the friendless
to her family’s table at home,
And took them in as her own;
Who continued to comfort
those lost and forgotten
even at times she felt lost;
Whose compassion and
love defined her every
action and word.
Yet, I am not my
father and my mother.
I am not their identical clone.
They loved me and taught me,
fed me and shaped me,
then let me go out on my own.
I must choose to be honest
as my father, to see
God’s image in every face,
to place great value in personal integrity,
and to work for the greater good.
I must seek God’s wisdom in all things,
and, like my mother, trust God
in all of life’s tragedies and joys,
To seek out God in the poor,
give all to my family,
and, welcome the friendless
around my family’s table at home.
I must choose to comfort
the lost and forgotten,
even at times I feel lost,
to choose to allow compassion
and love to define my every
action and word.
(c) 2019, Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.
*I have been thinking of my mom and dad a lot, the last couple of months. I have thought often of the lives they led. In spite of the great adversities they experienced personally, the deaths of parents and siblings, the Great Depression, poverty, a World War, religious discrimination etc, they never allowed their adversities to color their lives negatively. Rather, it seems the adversities compelled them to define their lives in a positive way, to make a better world than the one in which they grew as children.
We often hear such sayings like “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” While children may choose to adopt the values and attributes of their parents, the truth remains that many children also choose to do otherwise. In the end, we are not clones of our parents. It is always a matter of choice. In the end, it is for us to choose the direction of our lives and how we respond to the tragedies and joys. I far prefer to be remembered in the way others remember mom and dad, people whose compassion and love defined their words and their actions.
