VERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT GOD I learned from my father. Some were great lessons and some were small, but they were practical gems of knowledge. My dad was not a man of institutional learning. Most of what he knew was gathered from the school of experience.

He Worked Hard
My dad worked more than one job most of his adult life. There were times he worked literally night and day, with just a small window of time for rest. Sometimes we didn�t see my father unless he was sleeping. But he provided for his family. When he was paid for his labor, he brought the uncashed check home to his wife for her to manage. So I learned that God is a provider who is able to meet my needs.

We Had What We Needed
While we were not rich, or even comfortable, we always had food to eat, decent clothing to wear, medicine when we were sick, toys at Christmas, and even a weekly allowance. When my dad spent money on his family he would buy the best that he could afford. My mother reminded me that

I once asked her if we were rich, for it seemed to me that we always had what we needed. If we asked my father for something, and there was a way for him to get it, it was ours.

Once he bought me a bicycle. It had all the bells and whistles�racing red, three speeds, dual hand brakes, a tool pouch attached to the back of the seat, and a headlamp. Somebody stole my bike a few days after I got it. Now, this was no inexpensive purchase. It was the best bicycle money and a Sears credit card could buy. Do you know what my father did about my stolen bike? He bought me another one. That�s the way he was�nothing was too good for his family. So I learned that God will withhold no good thing from His children.

We Talked�He Listened
When I was in high school my father started driving an 18-wheeler for Greyhound. He would leave on Monday afternoon and return on Friday. When I was home I would talk to my father while he shaved and dressed for work. I could talk about whatever was on my mind�questions about the complex and the simple things. It was in one of these settings that he passed on an invaluable piece of information. �The man who knows how to do a thing will always have a job,� he said. �But the man who knows why the thing is done will always be the boss.� Many years later when I related that little pearl to a friend of mine, Craig Collins, professor of business at Florida A & M University, he included it in the foreword to the textbook of a course he teaches on the application of economics, management, and accounting principles.

I could, and often did, discuss a great many things with my father. He was accessible. I simply had to speak, and he would listen. So I learned that at any time, place, or circumstance I can talk to God, and He will listen.

Tommy Got the Shoes
There was a family that lived down the street from us in Chicago. This was a rather large family. They, like most, were just getting by with the necessities of life. There wasn�t room in the budget for extras. There was a teenage boy in this family who had considerable athletic talent. Tommy�s parents hoped that he would be able to exchange his skill at baseball for a college scholarship. There was one problem�Tommy�s family couldn�t afford to buy him a pair of baseball cleats. Somehow the story got to my father; perhaps it was because my older sister was friends with Tommy�s older sister. While I�m not sure of the details, I do know that Tommy got the shoes he needed. So I learned that God sometimes uses human agents as a means to bless other people.

He Forgave
Once I drove my father�s car and ran into another car�placing a rather large dent in the passenger-side door. Come to think of it, I may not have been old enough to drive. But there it was�a huge, obvious dent in the door, and this was the door anyone could see from our living room window. With some amount of trepidation I told my father of the accident. I remember him asking me, �How did it happen? How could you have avoided it?� And then he told me what to do in the future to avoid the same mistake. He never mentioned the accident again. He said his piece, and that was the end of it. So I learned that �if we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins� (1 John 1:9, NKJV). And to cast them into the sea of forgetfulness.

Justice Prevailed
Now, lest you get the wrong idea, there was also justice in my house. In fact, the six most fear-inducing words ever to be uttered were �Wait until your father gets home.� Normally my mother meted out whatever punishment was due. Oh, brother, she would pull out the biggest threats�and that meant Daddy. Daddy did spank, but he didn�t whip. You would plead for mercy, but the time for mercy was over. The window of opportunity had closed. This is judgment. It is quick; it is severe; it is painful. Adding insult to injury, he would say, �This hurts me more than it hurts you.� It wasn�t until I had to discipline a child of my own that I was able to understand the truth of the statement. A parent wants discipline to be unnecessary. We don�t want to see our children hurting, much less to cause them hurt. But sometimes the rod is necessary. Not always, not abusively, but sometimes. If we don�t correct the misbehavior, then the world will be forced to do so. It is a parent�s rightful responsibility to teach their sons and daughters how to live in this world as productive citizens. So I learned that �whom the Lord loveth he correcteth� (Prov. 3:12). Everyone who is a son or daughter the Lord chastises.

Never Abandoned
When I was a teenager I had a problem that I discussed with my father. A group of boys had made threats to jump me when I was walking home from work one evening. I expressed my concern that the situation would not be resolved without my fighting this small group. My father�s advice was direct and simple. �I suppose you could try to avoid them if you want, but they will probably continue to harass you. It may come down to a fight. If you want, when you get off work, walk home your usual way. I�ll be there across the street.� When I left work that day I saw a lone figure across the street in the shadows�always about a half block away. I wasn�t sure if it was my father or not, but I was confident and assured that I would be able to handle whatever evil befell me. And if things were too much for me to bear, my dad was there. So I learned that in times of trouble, God does not abandon you. He is there in the thick of the trouble with a plan, a way, an escape. He doesn�t allow more than you can bear. �I will not leave you nor forsake you� (Joshua 1:5, NKJV).

A Tough Guy
I can recall only two times that I saw my father cry. The first was when he heard some organ music that reminded him of the music that was played at his mother�s funeral. The second was when I left home to go to the military. Things were all right until the day and the hour I was to leave. This was during the Vietnam War. We were getting regular reports via the news of how many American soldiers were wounded, killed, or missing. For as long as there have been wars, fathers have watched their sons leave to do their part in military service. Some sons have been wounded, some maimed, and some have not returned. Some wars have been necessary for the greater good. But what father wants to offer his son as a sacrifice for the greater good of humanity? When it was time for me to leave and everyone had been hugged, my dad was secreted in the bathroom wrestling with his grief as he offered up his son.

��I thought he was a tough guy,� I said to Michael, my brother-in-law.

�He�s the toughest guy you�ll ever know,� responded Michael.

So I learned that God offered His Son as a sacrifice for the common good. That strength is demonstrated in doing what is necessary even at great personal cost.

Everything I know about God I learned from my father.

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David M. Richardson writes from Chicago, Illinois.