Happy Father’s Day

@Alyssa_Milano brings us this Father’s Day-appropriate quote from the Knights of Pythagoras:

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.

Long before I became a father, I was working with children, and was always amazed at the number of challenges they faced.  How many people, when they see a child, didn’t think of a small person, but of a small thing, a nuisance, a problem.

It’s been said enough to be a cliché, but children don’t just represent our future; they are our future.  By helping a child, you have invested in that future.  It may not even be a grand gesture, but every small amount helps.

When you see a child struggling with adversity, help them.  Don’t do everything for them, as that denies them the learning experience that will help them to grow; but if you can help a child with the hard parts, and let them stretch a bit at a time, they will grow.  And if you do well, they will grow well.

The child you help need not be your own, nor need they be someone you know.  But if you are a father (mothers, too, but this is Father’s day), remember to start at home, raising your own children properly and helping them through their growth.  Then spread out from there.

Happy father’s day.