Show Me the Sky
(Written by Bruce Toews)
To understand the type of man Dad is, it is best to go back in
time, and envision a small blind child coming to terms with his surroundings. I was so
young at the time that I do not remember the incident, but it's one of Dad's favorites.
We were driving home from town, as we so often did, to our farm.
I asked Dad, "What's above me?" He replied that the ceiling of the truck was
above me. "Show me the ceiling," I demanded. So he did, stopping
the truck, lifting me up, and letting my hands touch the ceiling of the truck. We drove
on.
"What's on top of the ceiling?" I asked. "The
roof," was the reply. "Show me the roof." Again, the truck stopped, Dad
took me outside, and let me feel the roof of the truck.
Back in the truck again, I asked, "What's on top of the
roof?" "The sky," said Dad. "Show me the sky," I said
predictably. Of course, Dad could not do this.
However, when the opportunity arose, Dad got a pilot friend of
his to take me up in his private plane. So even if I couldn't feel the sky, I could fly
through it.
I do remember, sometime later, playing in the sandbox with a
friend of mine. I decided to try to make our house out of sand. Having been up on a
stepladder in our living room and felt the ceiling, I knew for certain that the roof of
our house was flat.
"No it's not," insisted my friend. For whatever
reason, it hadn't occurred to me that my friend was sighted, and thus probably in a much
better position to be correct about this situation, so I argued vehemently with her, until
she left.
I told Dad about this. "No," he explained, "she's
right." I was incredulous. But rather than just leaving it there, Dad got out the big
ladder from the shed, and helped me climb on to the roof of our house so I could tell for
myself that the roof was indeed peaked.
And that's just the kind of man Dad is. He loves his children,
he loves his grandchildren, he loves Mom, and he is devoted to all of us.
More importantly, Dad taught me the faith which I would someday
adopt as my own, and when it came time to choose whether or not I wanted this faith, he
and Mom let me come to that decision on my own, comfortable in the knowledge that they had
raised me properly.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one.
Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (NIV)
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