A Very Human Father…What do Pa Ingalls and Saint Joseph have in Common?
“Can we do another story prayer before bed? Can Saint Joseph be in it too?”
This past year, our family of 6 started doing what I can only suppose would be a childlike version of Ignatian contemplation with our kids before bed. We don’t have a better term for it other than a “story prayer.” But the kids LOVE it, especially our 3 year old who would much rather jump on the bed than pray.
It’s kind of like a guided meditation, I suppose. But in it, they always meet the Child Jesus. I tell them that Jesus can be whatever age they want him to be in this story, but more often than not, they prefer Jesus to be their very own age (3, 5, 7, etc).
In these stories, they might be playing by a creek with Jesus, wondering through the woods looking for cool nature items… sometimes getting themselves into accidental scrapes where the kids might want to lie or pass blame, but in which the Child Jesus gently models virtue.
And while the kids LOVE spending time with Jesus in their imaginations during these stories, there is one character in particular that always seems to bring the biggest smiles to their faces…Saint Joseph.
They giggle when they get to spy with Jesus on his foster father when he works in his woodshop.
They fetch him a cool drink of water when he’s been working hard in the sun.
They hug him tightly when he hurts his finger with a hammer.
And in nearly every story, Saint Joseph at some point attacks them with tickles. Being tickled alongside the Child Jesus by the hands of Saint Joseph? What a child’s dream.
I don’t find it surprising at all that Saint Joseph is my kids’ favorite character in these stories. Because after all, their own earthly dad is without a doubt their favorite person.
(I’m just the lady who cooks food that sometimes tastes good)
Does their earthly dad exemplify the virtuous life of Saint Joseph all the time? Of course not, but the kids at this age hold onto those Saint Joseph moments longer than any moment of impatience.
What’s the purpose of me telling you all this?
Well, I guess that regardless of what your relationship with your earthly father is or was. Whether or not you knew your father. Or whether or not you feel like a lousy father yourself for losing patience with your kids for the 7,000th time…there’s a saint whose got your back.
And he was so real, and so very human.
He exemplified the love of Our Heavenly Father for Jesus on earth. And while he is in heaven now, he still exemplifies those virtues for you too. Ask him to pray for you if you know longer have a Father. Ask him to pray for you if you are in the throws of fathering children yourself.
But most importantly, ask him to pray that you may have the eyes and heart to see God the Father as He truly is: Slow to anger, compassionate, quick to forgive, and abounding in love.
I think most of us unknowingly carry around fairly inaccurate perceptions of who God the Father is to us.
For the longest time, I imagined God looking at me the way one of my male elementary school teachers looked at me once when I spoke out at the wrong time in class.
For years, I felt that God would look at me in that same exact glare for any and every tiny little mistake I made. All this DESPITE scripture telling me otherwise.
And then, I heard somebody once say that if you struggle to see God as a loving Father, just imagine him like Pa Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.
And it was wild how easy it was for me to catch a glimpse of that gentle compassion of Pa Ingalls and utilize it as a loose visual for God’s compassion and gentleness as a Father.
(Also, imagining God the Father calling me “half-pint” gives me all the fuzzy feelings inside!!)
After a time, I realized that having this fictionalized visual of Pa Ingalls helped me understand Saint Joseph’s roll in our lives so much better…
A compassionate, gentle, strong, protective, and yet entirely human loving father.
When we see the heart of Saint Joseph, we get to see a teeny tiny glimpse of the heart of Our God who loves, protects, and provides for all His children. I don’t think its possible for us in this life to fully understand or comprehend the vast love of God. So we get to see that Fatherhood dimmed downed and yet mirrored through Saint Joseph, and hopefully work to exemplify it ourselves.
All that being said, if you struggle to see God as a loving Father this Father’s Day, I highly encourage you to do two things. First, go watch Little House on the Prairie.
And then, as you fall asleep, take a walk with the Child Jesus and pay a visit to Saint Joseph in his woodshop. How would Saint Joseph greet you? What would he say?
Spend some time with him. Let him model the Love of the Father. And then ask the Father to make himself known to you as He truly is…not as you have inaccurately imagined him to be for so long.
Happy Father’s Day to all physical and spiritual Father’s! My husband (the true writer and poet in our family), took the time during his lunch break to write the following prayer for dads everywhere. He gave me permission to share it with you all, and I pray it blesses you in some way.
Saint Joseph, epitome of all earthly fathers, pray for us!
That we may raise those we cherish above our own station, so that they may see your Son’s brilliance more clearly than we.
Keeping in mind your loving example, pray that we may always put our loved ones needs before our own, never despairing of the weariness and difficulties of the deserts of this life.
Through the honest toil of our hands and hearts, pray that our labors are always done with the glory of God and the good of our families in mind.
Pray, let us never stoop to our base inclinations of frustration and wrath when instructing our children, but remember your example of quiet patience as you taught Jesus.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, pray for us!
Peace to you and yours!
Haley Dessauer
Artist, This Little Fiat
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