Son,

I relate to the Phantom of the Opera. Sometimes I feel like he and I are related. You are blessed with the wisdom, courage, and the temperament of your mother. She is a lady of extraordinary humanity. She married the Phantom and became forever perplexed. The Phantom is a crazy man, he lives in the bowels of life. He sees and feels from the depths of his soul – but he is not allowed to be a part of the society in general. His gifts consume him – he has no outlet – but he loves never the less. His misguided upbringing, sheltered from sanity but exposed to social injustice, mixed with gifted insight and talent for the arts, lead him on a journey that can only have disastrous outcomes.

I need help with this blog – the intention of a father and son dialogue basks in the historical difficulty of parenting. The global mythology of mankind suggests that it takes more than the parents to raise the child. I accept this. I accept that I have much to offer as a father – but that fathers do not own wisdom – only love. I am calling in reinforcements. The mythology is that the parents can only provide basic teachings – then the other adults in the village must finish the job of raising the child.

My older brother lives in Virginia. He is smarter than me – smarter in math, science, philosophy, theology, and yes – even writing. He has greater wisdom. I appeal to my brother here. Brother – my son is facing the issues you and I have pondered for years, particularly around faith. Help me Brother. If you see this please understand that I am inviting you to comment. To comment on the struggles of maturity, of family, of God, of faith, of life itself. You have skills beyond what you recognize in yourself – I have always known this.

My son writes about theology and faith – I am sometimes at a loss. I have opinions – but I dare not derail his forward moving motion toward wisdom.

Son, I am asking your Uncle to provide his insight – he is really a remarkable person. Brother – we use the pronouns of son, dad, brother, sister, mother, and uncle to protect our families. We use all means at our disposal, wit, humor, sarcasm, the internet, historical reference, and a heavy dose of quotes from others – please feel free to use whatever medium suits you.

Son, your Uncle does not know I am writing this – we will see what happens.

Dad, and Brother

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you
get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: “Take
two aspirin” and “Keep away from children.” –Author Unknown