Father, today marks the birth of someone who greatly influenced my early years, as well as the lives of many other children throughout the world. And while he’s no longer with us here, the legacy he left behind continues to inspire, educate and delight those who read his works. I’m of course speaking of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name of Dr. Seuss.
While he made a point of not speaking to any one religion or group in his writings, his messages of tolerance, understanding and peace were obvious and recurring themes in the books he wrote. Through whimsical characters, engaging stories and tongue-twisting rhymes he made learning fun while passing along the underlying positive messages to his young audience. Even as an adult, I still get a smile reading his stories.
The one published exception to his self-imposed rule of not writing works with obvious religious connotations came in a full-page, full-color article in the December 23, 1955 issue of Collier’s Magazine, where he wrote “A Prayer for a Child”* :
“From here on earth, From my small place I ask of You Way out in space: Please tell all men In every land What You and I Both understand . . .
Please tell all men That Peace is Good. That’s all That need be understood In every world In Your great sky.
(We understand. Both You and I.)” – Theodor Seuss Geisel
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gifts this man brought to me and to so many other children. While his words may not specifically carry Your name, Your Light shone brightly through his works all the same. Amen.
~Phather Phil
*The poem and image used are Trademark and Copyright of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P.
Wow Father, what a busy weekend! Between projects for work, helping the kids with homework, cleaning, laundry, dishes and cooking I think the craziness at the office will seem a little easier this morning. 🙂 Either way, I was Blessed to spend lots of time with people I love and was wonderfully productive so for that I thank You!
Along with the plethora of activity this weekend Lord, I was able to spend some time with Your Book reading in Genesis. For some reason, I was drawn to the narrative of Joseph and reread it several times. It made enough of an impact on me Father, that with Your indulgence I’d like to discuss this important story this morning.
Following Joseph’s betrayal at the hands of his brothers and being sold into slavery, he was taken to Egypt and sold into the service of one of Pharaoh’s officials named Potiphar.
“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.” – Genesis 39:2-5 (NIV)
This really struck several points with me Father. First off, it must have been very obvious to Joseph’s master that You were with him to bestow that level of trust to a slave so quickly. I so want Your Light to shine through me like that! Secondly, through the trust placed in Joseph by Potiphar, his household became Blessed as well. This emphasized a very significant truth to me as well Lord; If we show Your Light to those around us, we Bless them as well!
But as you know Father, Joseph’s trials didn’t end there. He was later falsely accused and imprisoned, and yet his faith in You was stalwart. Even then, It was evident to the jailer that You were by his side and he was therefore placed in charge of the other prisoners.
“So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.” – Genesis 39:22 (NIV)
This position then led to his encounter with two of Pharaoh’s officials who had offended the king and been imprisoned for their indiscretions. Through Your Voice, Joseph interpreted dreams from each man, the events of which then came to pass as described. However, the official that had promised favor for Joseph upon his release quickly forgot his vow, and Joseph remained incarcerated for two more years.
And yet, Joseph’s faith never wavered.
Then Pharaoh had some dreams which left him troubled. He called on the expertise of his magicians and wise men, but none could provide a meaning for the nighttime messages. Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer, whom Joseph had aided those two years prior was suddenly reminded of his accurate reading, and made Pharaoh aware of Joseph’s ability. Joseph was then summoned, and again through Your Voice was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Yet again, Your Presence in Joseph was so obvious that Pharaoh placed him in charge of his palace and of all his subjects, second only in authority to the king.
“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”” – Genesis 41:39-40 (NIV)
With his newly found position, Joseph went to work preparing Egypt for the famine which had been prophesized to come. Once again, Joseph’s rock-solid faith not only granted him Blessings in his own life, but also Blessed those around him as well.
Heavenly Father, thank You for placing Joseph’s example in my heart this weekend. I pray that I can find the strength to be as faithful, as dedicated and as courageous as he was in Your Service. May Your Light be that obvious in me, so those I encounter have no doubt of Your Influence in my life. Amen.
To begin with Father, I want to thank You again for yesterday. As You told me it would be when I woke, it was a good day. 🙂
Today Lord, I’d like to focus my prayers on my wonderful wife Shannon if I may. As You know, she’s been on my mind even more than usual the last few days. The past year has been an amazing transition and growth year for her both personally and professionally, but in that same respect her workload has increased and changed from what she’d been used to for so long. From being a stay-at-home mom and part-time assistant at a Christian Preschool she now :
– Has a job as a full-time Preschool Teacher with a full class of four-year-olds at a school she loves, surrounded by people that encourage and appreciate her.
– Has started taking college courses to further her education in Early Childhood Development.
– Plays viola for the Dover Symphony Orchestra and a private quartet that does weddings and parties.
– Teaches violin, viola and other instrumental lessons to a number of children in the area.
And on top of that Father, she always finds time and energy for her loving husband and two little boys. I am indeed Blessed to have her as my wife, my best friend and the mother of our children.
When I first heard the song “Dancing in the Minefields” by Andrew Peterson played on K-Love earlier in the year, I shared it with her and we both immediately felt a connection to the message it contained. It’s been running through my heart a lot the last few days, so I thought I’d close the week by sharing :
Heavenly Father, You’ve bestowed upon me the most amazing gift any man could ask for; a true soul-mate in life. I thank You for such an undeserved Blessing, and pray that You continue to shine Your Light through her eyes and her heart. Amen.
Thank You Lord, for starting my day off so pleasantly this morning. I always like waking to the sound of Your Voice in my head, especially when the message is “Today is a Good Day”. Well, it’s just after lunchtime here now and so far it truly has been as you prepared me; A good day. 🙂
In the beginning of the year Father, You gave me a word to focus my energies and prayers on. It wasn’t a word I would have chosen sans Your intervention, but You were quite insistent at the time as I remember so I adopted it as my own. The word was Accept.
Today Lord, I thought I’d discuss a couple of the ways “our” word choice has impacted me thus far, and presented itself in my life.
The beginning of “The Serenity Prayer” comes immediately to mind Father :
“God, grant me the serenity to Accept the things I cannot change…” – Reinhold Niebuhr
As You know, this has always been a rough one for me Lord. Many of my most significant upsets have come from situations which I have little or no control over. With Your help, I’ve been working on this flaw in my character and I can honestly say that we’ve made some progress. I still have more than a few stresses in my life right now, but I’ve learned to better Accept those things which I can’t fix and focus my efforts on the ones I can make positive change in.
Along those same lines Father, I’m learning to Accept assistance more readily from others as well. I’ve always prided myself (I know… another nasty word, but we’re making progress on that flaw too.) on being reasonably independent, but through my journey to You I’ve realized that You put us all here together for a reason. When I can help someone, I should but I also need to be open to Accepting help from others as well. It’s still a struggle sometimes for me to show that vulnerability, but I’m happy to say that barrier is lower than it used to be.
Needless to say, I now understand why You chose this word for me. I obviously have some significant room for growth and Acceptance appears to be the key to much of that.
Heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to Guide me in Your Grace. I am but clay in Your Skillful Hands, eager to be molded into a form which can best serve Your Will. Amen.
I’ve decided that 11 is a complicated age Lord… Let me tell You a little about my morning.
Today started out like most weekday mornings do; with everyone scrambling to compose themselves and prepare for the work and school day ahead. Still shaking off the effects of a restless night, I stepped out of the shower and immediately picked up on yelling coming from the opposite side of the house. Quickly wrapping a towel around myself I headed for the source of the turmoil.
Jonathan and Aidan were firmly entrenched in a verbal battle with each other. Apparently, Aidan had taken a seat at the table that Jonathan had set up for himself, pushing his things aside in the process. This in turn lit Jonathan’s fuse, and the battle royale had begun.
Both were intractable, and it had progressed from a basic disagreement to an angered exchange complete with name calling (luckily, nothing too terrible) and yelling. (Looking back to it now, Dr. Seuss’ story “The Zax” comes to mind.)
Still sporting my towel, I quickly intervened on the situation trying to get a handle on who did what and to calm things down. Unfortunately, Jonathan was riled up way past the point of reason and redirected his attitude towards my authority. Needless to say, it went downhill from there. Shannon and I take disrespect very seriously, and Jonathan had gone WAY too far to allow it to go unchecked.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12
We then entered the correction phase of the conversation; No computer games for the next couple of days… At which time, Jonathan went off the deep end.
I’ve never seen anger like this from him Father, and it really caught Shannon and I off guard. He threw what can only be described as a massive “hissy fit”, told us he was leaving home forever, and without a coat, hat or gloves stormed out the front door onto the snow covered lawn.
I watched quietly out the window for a couple minutes, then went outside and got in the truck to go fetch him. He’d made it down to the end of the street, and when I pulled up on him he stood shivering in the snow and firmly refused to get in the car. More concerned for his health than the attitude at this point, I promptly picked him up, put him in the truck and closed the door. Unfortunately, that still wasn’t the end of it and the ride to school was filled with further venomous outbursts and disrespect. As it hadn’t completely abated when we turned into the school parking lot, I decided to err on the side of caution and keep him with me for the day.
As we pulled out of the school after dropping Aidan off, I quietly focused on Your Guidance Father. I was at a loss… He’d never shown me this kind of behavior before.
“Hold him close to you.” I heard drift through my head.
With that directive in my heart and an image of You holding him in Your Arms in my mind, I spent the rest of the trip to my office working to release some of the tension that the morning had brought. We arrived at my workplace, where I set him down on the couch in my office to contemplate the events of the morning.
“Jonathan” I said, “You tell me you talk to God quite a bit… Now would be a good time to listen to Him.”
He gave me a half-quizzical look, but sat quietly on the couch for quite a long time all the same. When he finally turned and spoke to me, his voice was much softer and more reserved. We discussed what had happened, and he remorsefully explained how he’d allowed his anger to run away with him and about the difficulty he’d had “getting the genie back in the bottle” once he’d lost control. There are days Father, that I think he’s far too deep for a child of 11… Today was one of those days.
When I spoke with him later on, I asked him if he’d heard from You while he laid on my couch.
“Yes… And he didn’t sound happy.” Jonathan replied. “We talked about how I was going to make it better, and not let it happen again.”
Thank You for the assist with him Father, and for focusing me as well. Sometimes we all need some parenting help from the “Head of the Household”. 🙂
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
