It seems there are two competing attitudes towards Father’s Day in our culture right now. On one hand, some people have decided to attempt to ignore or otherwise make fun of the occasion. A good example of this is Old Navy, which tried to make Father’s Day about single mothers. On the other hand, some people treat Father’s Day like a time to pretend their fathers are perfect and have never made any mistakes. You see this attitude on greeting cards everywhere – a beautiful but also naive view of fatherhood that makes being a dad sound like a walk in the park.
Ben Sasse, as per usual, doesn’t fall in line with either of the two main options. Rather, he sets aside “the nostalgia and Hallmark card perfection” to talk about fatherhood in a genuine and honest way. Standing on a Little League baseball diamond, Sasse delivers some solid advice to fathers everywhere:
“Fatherhood isn’t about perfection. What being a dad is about is showing up for your kid and telling them you love them when they screw up….. Being a dad is about being man enough to admit that you screw up, and you need to tell your kids that you were wrong and ask them for forgiveness. This is a day about trying again, and going and telling your kids that you do love them unconditionally.
Dads, on this Father’s Day, if you think you’ve just had the best year in the history of fatherhood, that’s awesome. Count your blessings. But if you’re like most of us, if you’ve screwed up a lot this year, your kids still need you. They need to know that you love them, and you need to show up again.”
Sasse then goes on to give some great advice to kids as well:
“Kids, if you had the best dad the world has ever known, that is wonderful. Call them and thank them, and thank heaven for what you got as a gift. But if you’re like most of us, and your dad screwed up some times, or even a lot of the times – if you think your dad was a total jerk, he probably wasn’t a total jerk, there were probably times when he showed up – call him today and thank him.”
Sasse closes the video with a powerful and inspirational line:
“America is about new beginnings, and the end of your story has not been written. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there who want to show up and try again.”
Watch the full video below:
God bless Senator Ben Sasse for all he does. Our culture mocks and belittles the idea of fatherhood, and as a result we have more deadbeat dads and single moms. We desperately need more fathers like Ben Sasse who will freely admit that they aren’t perfect, but who make an effort to show up and be there for their kids.
