I always associate Father's Day with the London to Brighton Bike Ride which is usually on the same day. I think I've done it three times, including once on a tandem with a partially sighted colleague as stoker (not steering!). It was a great feeling, if not a little scary, coming down the hill into Brighton with the weight of two blokes helping us to break the speed limit easily.
The bike ride is in aid of the British Heart Foundation. Little did I know that quite a few years after those cycle rides, I would be undergoing open heart surgery. Eventually after quite a few weeks getting over the operation and engaging with all the rehabilitation exercises, I felt like a new man with a new heart.
Talking of hearts, fathers and mothers are at the heart of the family and these weeks of lockdown, while stressful at times, have bonded families together. Fathers who used to leave the house as the children were just getting out of bed and not returning until after the children's bedtime, could now be at the heart of family life. It will be interesting to see as we come out of lockdown if some of these advantages cannot be kept, as working from home for some might become the new norm. Will there be a new heart beating in the centre of family life?
The bible has much to say about our hearts. If you have a spare half an hour or so, Google all the references to 'heart' in the Bible and just see for yourself. For now though a reference from Ezekiel 11.19.
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them tender hearts instead.”
So on this Father’s Day when we think especially about fathers, a question for all to ponder. How is your heart?
Is it a sad heart, a tired heart, a loving heart, a heart for others?
Are there times though when it is a stony heart and you feel very selfish and unloving?
Remember when you bring all that is in your heart to God in prayer, he can remake that heart into a loving, beating and tender heart and it doesn’t need a four-hour operation just a conversation with God.