IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER

It was the famous photo album. Or, if you were my mother, the infamous one. “It” was from my dad’s days in the US Army/Air Corps during the tail end of WWII. It contained snapshots of him and his buddies, along with their B-24 and other aircraft. The planes were festooned with fanciful paintings of some rather voluptuous young maidens in various stages of undress—some in no dress at all, which was a very common military practice at the time. That’s really what mom thought it was—common—and we were forbidden to look at it.

Well, of course, you know what happened: we looked at the album whenever we could sneak a peek. “Oh, my! Look at her! And her!” Tee hee, giggle, giggle and all that. Probably the biggest surprise of the whole thing was that it belonged to our dad. It was dad’s! Yikes!

Anyway, the album is now in my youngest brother’s possession. I recently asked if he would scan and email to me some of the “plainer” shots, those that might have my father in uniform, which he did.

These WWII-era photos are tiny, black and white, somewhat grainy and...old. It took under-the-magnifying-glass inspection to figure out how many of the young men staring back at me from so long ago were actually my father. Some obviously were, some definitely were not and a few I wasn’t so sure about. A few handsome fliers sported grins, but most were quite serious. Those were, after all quite serious times. Were the men afraid? Were they worried? Did they wonder if they’d make it back unscathed, back to homes and hearths and honeys—if they had them?

I wondered, as I made this photographic inspection back through time and searched for something telling in his face, what my dad was like then. Was he afraid? Was he worried? My mother was not yet his to get back to and I’m sure I was certainly not yet twinkling in his eye. I realized I did not know much at all about this father. The one I did come to know was not much of a talker and had passed away two years ago, which made him unavailable for talking. I would just not ever know.

But my Heavenly Father? I know lots about Him. He is loving, kind, just, faithful, creative, present, everlasting. It was His desire to make Himself known to us—through His creation and through His Word. “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.” (Romans 1:9). I search the starry sky and see His magnificent face; I search the Words he left me and know without a doubt: that face is turned toward me in a deep, abiding, forever kind of love.