What Makes You Cry?

This time I'm turning the tables and I ask you to tell us ... what makes you cry? Whatever that may be, your life purpose won't be very far away from it.

General Douglas McArthur was a great general in world history. You have an idea what made this general cry? (Photo courtesy of publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com.)

You may revolt and say, "What!?! What question is this? Who0ooo cares, man? Who cares?"
If you have nothing to cry about in this world, what sort of life would that be? Won't it be a kind of existence that's boring, annoying and meaningless? Is that how life should be lived? Tell me.
In my previous post, I highlighted the fact that  fathers do cry. They do it mostly in private, and in rare occasions, but yes they do cry.

Now, do YOU cry? What do you cry about?

Fathers cry mostly about their kids (read the sites I cited).  Shouldn't we be grateful for that? Doesn't that mean that beneath a father's rough exterior, there is a heart that beats and feels for you, his child?

But there are also other things that make fathers cry, aren't there? There's the death of a friend, the chaos in the community he cares so much about, or maybe the defeat of his beloved country in war. A war veteran, who was interviewed maybe ten years ago, sobbed while relating their surrender to the Japanese in Bataan more than 50 years ago.

Now, it's your turn. What makes you cry? What thought triggers tears in your eyes?

I sincerely believe that your own life purpose won't be very far from whatever that is.
To fathers who read this blog, I have three questions for you:

1. Have you defined your life purpose?
2. Are you in the middle of attaining this life purpose?
3. Most importantly, have you communicated this life purpose to your wife and children?

I pray that your life purpose includes loving your wife and children, being the best husband for your wife and being the best father for your children.

Let me end with a famous quote from General Douglas McArthur about fatherhood.

You may recall that McArthur was a world famous general of the United States. He figured well in World War II and the Korean War. He was also a United Nations general. And, he figured well in the history of the Philippines with the words, "I shall return." And return, he did. Then he drove away the Japanese occupation army.

Yet, with all the achievements and prestige he earned for himself, this was what McArthur had to say about his life purpose...

By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder – infinitely prouder – to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, 'Our Father who art in Heaven.'

With that, I wonder, does anyone have an excuse for not making a life purpose  out of being a great husband and father?

May your son model on you rightly.

 RELATED POSTS:

• When Your Father Cries
• Three Things Every Father Must Know About Fatherhood