Thursday May 14, 2015, is Father’s Day. At least in my book. Since I live both the US and German cultures I get to celebrate two Father’s Days on different dates. This upcoming German variety has a powerful customary expression: A bunch of dads going on a hike without family – basically taking a day off from fathering. Instead they pull a little red wagon full of beer and get wasted in public places. It has been a tradition for over 100 years. Honestly I have never celebrated that way but it is a cultural icon you should be aware of.
All this daytime drinking is possible because German Father’s Day also happens to be a national holiday. The way most of us think about German culture it is totally within the realm of possibility to dedicate a national holiday to drinking beer in the park but actually it is a major Christian holiday: Ascension Day! Yes, churches do have a hard time filling the pews on a holiday where the guys prefer hiking. But at least the theme for the worship service is pretty clear: “Jesus goes back to his heavenly father”. So Ascension is truly Jesus’ Father’s Day. That’s the way it always has been. For almost 2000 years!
Then I moved to the US and this whole connection is gone because in America we don’t join those two celebrations. So I had to look at the more serious implications of Ascension. How do you celebrate Jesus going back to heaven when it is not linked to a Father figure waiting for him up there?
Jesus Christ is no longer among us. He is not dead, he is risen after all. But he is still gone, ascended into heaven. How do you maintain a long distance relationship like that? Ascension poses a challenge: There is this huge gap that remains between God Almighty, creator of the universe and us little creatures down here on Earth. For a brief time in history we had Jesus walking among us, preaching, and teaching, and healing. Then: Ascension! Pouf! He disappears just us quickly and unexpectedly as the angel had appeared to Mary announcing his birth to begin with. God’s presence among us is fleeting at best. Maybe that’s the takeaway from Ascension Day: God the Father will always be hiking through the Garden of Eden whether we see him or not and he’s got our back no matter what.