This morning as I was dropping off my daughter at her middle school, I happened to see in my rear view mirror a brief exchange that brought me to instant tears. Over just a couple of seconds I was witness to an eternal moment, the image of which is now stamped upon my heart.
A father in a baseball cap had gotten out of his car and gone over to the passenger side as his son was getting out. I think he was helping him with his backpack at first. Then he quickly pulled his son close in a hug. I was immediately surprised and touched by the hug and the son's unembarrassed reciprocity, but then it got even better. The father kissed his son. He leaned toward his son and kissed him quickly, routinely, masculinely, lovingly. The son did not look surprised or mortified. The son received his father's expression of love as matter of course, as a given. He knew he was loved and knew how to receive it. They had a relationship. The son walked off toward the school building, and the dad jumped back in his car pulling away from the drop off lane behind me.
See this.
Thank you, God of Love, that my eyes were open this morning. For those who allow your love to flow through them, drawing in others. Thank you for a holy eternal moment of worship. For rear view mirror sacrament.
Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for showing your eternal relationship in the love between a father and son.
