On Fathers

Here, for Father’s Day, are two nested meditations from my first book, Divinity in Disguise, and one non-nested poem. Enjoy! (If you’re not familiar with the nested meditation form introduced in Divinity in Disguise, you can read about it here )

My father never filled his father’s shoes.

My father never filled his father’s shoes

and I have never filled my father’s.

My father never filled his father’s shoes

and I have never filled my father’s.

May you, beloved son, be the one!

My father never filled his father’s shoes

and I have never filled my father’s.

May you, beloved son, be the one

who never fills mine.

(Copyright 2003 by Kevin Anderson)

Here’s the brief reflection that accompanied this nested meditation in Divinity in Disguise:

One morning when our son Jim was just over a year old, not long after he’d learned to walk, I saw him standing in my size thirteen basketball shoes attempting to make his way around the kitchen. The shoes were on the wrong feet and, being hightops, came up nearly to his knees. He wasn’t getting anywhere too easily, given the awkwardness of the fit. Long after snapping his photograph that morning, the image of Jim standing there trying to fill my shoes lingered.

My feet are long and narrow. Jim has the wide feet that come from the other side of the family. His feet will probably be too wide someday to fit into my shoes. I hope his spirit is too.

(Update: Jim is now about to embark on college and his feet, and spirit, are indeed too wide to fit into mine!)

Another nested meditation:

A father fertilizes.

A father fertilizes

the Godseed in each of his children

A father fertilizes

the Godseed in each of his children

by letting them know him as he is.

A father fertilizes

the Godseed in each of his children

by letting them know him as he is

growing into his own.

(Copyright 2003 by Kevin Anderson)

And finally, a traditional poem (published in June 2000 issue of Mothers at Home)

A DOCK OR A FATHER

The whole idea

of a dock

or a father is

to lead

to water

deep enough

to dive in.

(Copyright 2000 by Kevin Anderson)