Papa Mike and I are fans of a TV show called Justified; we fancy ourselves of similar character, nerve, and shooting ability as the hero (Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a creation of the brilliant Elmore Leonard). We also admire the show's antihero (Boyd), but that's beside the point and not to be admitted. Raylan has an infant baby girl now, and this piece of indubitable truth from an episode's dialogue hit me so squarely in the head and heart that I transcribed it. It's quite beautiful, despite the whole drugs-and-guns context. Raylan has a suspect dead to rights when the suspect's father sees a way to take the fall for his son. The father insists, even as Raylan advises him that doing so is pointless and foolish. The father, who knows a little about the younger Raylan, eloquently explains his impulse, and pretty much the actions and impulses of every father – and I think it is, in fact, every father – who has done a thing perceived as foolish for the sake of a son or daughter.
Father: "You say you got a baby girl of your own?"
Raylan: "That's right."
Father: "Right now I reckon she's not much more than a lump, that cries and shits and makes baby noises."
Raylan: "It's like you've met her."
Father: "Yeah, and you're gonna tell me that absent even any personality that she might one day cultivate there ain't one thing in this world you wouldn't do for that gob. That don't stop, son. And it don't get any easier."
Amen. It don't get any easier. But as the challenges mount, so do the moments of grace and gratitude, so does the richness and depth of being a parent. My daily prayer is the same: God, thank you for my children.
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