Father's Day Meditation

A black man, smiling into the camera, holds a toddler with his hand on the man's cheek.

On this Father’s Day, we recognize the vast spectrum of experience and the often-complicated feelings that surround such a celebration. We honor those fathers and father figures in our lives who have loved, supported, encouraged and instructed us, and we seek to share these gifts with others.

We mourn with those who mourn the loss of a father and fathers who mourn the loss of a child, whether separated by death or estrangement. We support those for whom this day brings pain and sorrow, who suffered abandonment, neglect or abuse.

We support and celebrate the fathers in our midst who give of themselves to their children, recognizing all the strength and wisdom and stamina and love and time and honest introspection that fatherhood requires. We support those men who choose not to have children, yet who are present in loving and supportive ways to children, youth and adults alike. And we seek to honor wherever we find ourselves today across this vast spectrum of experience and to feel the compassion that embraces us within this silence.