Saint Teresa of Avila, author of The Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection, and other works, and a Doctor in the Catholic Church, once said “May God protect me from gloomy saints.” The love of God, Saint Teresa believed, should fill the faithful with joy and happiness.
In How To Be A Superman Dad In A Kryptonite World, Even When You Can’t Afford A Decent Cape: Heartwarming Stories About The Joys Of Fatherhood (Guiding Light Books, 2017, 167 pages), writer John Clark not only quotes Saint Teresa’s remark, but reflects her sentiment on every page of his book. With humor and with a clear zest for living, Clark aims How To Be A Superman Dad at the hearts of fathers.
In How To Be A Superman Dad In A Kryptonite World, Even When You Can’t Afford A Decent Cape: Heartwarming Stories About The Joys Of Fatherhood (Guiding Light Books, 2017, 167 pages), writer John Clark not only quotes Saint Teresa’s remark, but reflects her sentiment on every page of his book. With humor and with a clear zest for living, Clark aims How To Be A Superman Dad at the hearts of fathers.
This collection of essays offers several gifts to dads. First, the essays themselves are short, most of them around a thousand words. This brevity should appeal to hard-working dads seeking a quick laugh or a burst of inspiration.
Clark’s tone should also attract busy fathers. He writes as though conversing with his readers while sitting in the kitchen over a cup of coffee or grilling hamburgers in the backyard. Clark encourages rather than lectures, strives to inspire rather than to mandate. He shares with us some of his passions such as baseball, cars, homeschooling, and books so that when we finish reading him, we feel as if he has given us a part of himself. This relaxed, casual approach will appeal to dads harried by the demands of work and family.
To support his insights on fatherhood, Clark uses many examples, taking some from the lives of saints, some from history, and many from his own experiences. These last brings out Clark’s robust sense of humor, which he directs most often at himself. In How To Be A Superman Dad, readers will find little of the snark or sarcasm that passes for comedy these days. Instead, Clark frequently resorts to situational humor, the kind that used to be found on such television shows as The Andy Griffin Show. In “A Day at the Spa,” for example, he encourages husbands to surprise their kid-stressed wives with some time at the spa.
You might feel odd as you go into the spa to pay the bill, but here’s a little secret: you are the buy who booked a spa day for your wife—this elevates you to celebrity status among the spa staff. They may even offer you a glass of cucumber water. (It’s OK—and fashionable—to politely decline. You’re still a man, and you can only look so masculine while drinking cucumber water. A few of us can pull it off, but we’re few and far between.)
His chapter on “30 Minute Meals” is equally amusing, as may be seen in the sub-headings: “Order a Pizza,” “Drive Through Windows,” and “Bag of Chips,” among others. On doing the laundry, the chapter includes such short sections as “Stop Folding,” “Tell your Kids to do the Laundry,” and “Wear Dirty Clothes.”
Clark also brings a certain expertise to his writing on fatherhood. He is the father of nine—he married at twenty-one and was a father at twenty-two—and so shares with us insights based on more than a score of years of parenting. Again and again, using himself and his family to illustrate his points, he reminds dads that they are imperfect, that they will make mistakes just as he has made mistakes, that they will suffer misadventures and trials, some of them easily borne, some that can come close to crushing the spirit.
Finally, in nearly every chapter of How To Be A Superman Dad, Clark reminds busy, worn-out fathers that the Holy Trinity and the saints can act as the best of companions when we are confronted by the tribulations of the world, protecting us from doubt and despair, and lifting us when we have fallen. He ends his final essay with these words:
For those who are troubled by the troubles of the world, one final thought on the matter: remember who you are. Remember that you and I are citizens of the City of God. Live accordingly, even if no one else does. In The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis writes: “I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.” In other words, I will live as a patriotic citizen of the City of God, even if no one else does.
Be a Narnian.
That’s what you can do.
Excellent advice from a fine book.
Clark’s tone should also attract busy fathers. He writes as though conversing with his readers while sitting in the kitchen over a cup of coffee or grilling hamburgers in the backyard. Clark encourages rather than lectures, strives to inspire rather than to mandate. He shares with us some of his passions such as baseball, cars, homeschooling, and books so that when we finish reading him, we feel as if he has given us a part of himself. This relaxed, casual approach will appeal to dads harried by the demands of work and family.
To support his insights on fatherhood, Clark uses many examples, taking some from the lives of saints, some from history, and many from his own experiences. These last brings out Clark’s robust sense of humor, which he directs most often at himself. In How To Be A Superman Dad, readers will find little of the snark or sarcasm that passes for comedy these days. Instead, Clark frequently resorts to situational humor, the kind that used to be found on such television shows as The Andy Griffin Show. In “A Day at the Spa,” for example, he encourages husbands to surprise their kid-stressed wives with some time at the spa.
You might feel odd as you go into the spa to pay the bill, but here’s a little secret: you are the buy who booked a spa day for your wife—this elevates you to celebrity status among the spa staff. They may even offer you a glass of cucumber water. (It’s OK—and fashionable—to politely decline. You’re still a man, and you can only look so masculine while drinking cucumber water. A few of us can pull it off, but we’re few and far between.)
His chapter on “30 Minute Meals” is equally amusing, as may be seen in the sub-headings: “Order a Pizza,” “Drive Through Windows,” and “Bag of Chips,” among others. On doing the laundry, the chapter includes such short sections as “Stop Folding,” “Tell your Kids to do the Laundry,” and “Wear Dirty Clothes.”
Clark also brings a certain expertise to his writing on fatherhood. He is the father of nine—he married at twenty-one and was a father at twenty-two—and so shares with us insights based on more than a score of years of parenting. Again and again, using himself and his family to illustrate his points, he reminds dads that they are imperfect, that they will make mistakes just as he has made mistakes, that they will suffer misadventures and trials, some of them easily borne, some that can come close to crushing the spirit.
Finally, in nearly every chapter of How To Be A Superman Dad, Clark reminds busy, worn-out fathers that the Holy Trinity and the saints can act as the best of companions when we are confronted by the tribulations of the world, protecting us from doubt and despair, and lifting us when we have fallen. He ends his final essay with these words:
For those who are troubled by the troubles of the world, one final thought on the matter: remember who you are. Remember that you and I are citizens of the City of God. Live accordingly, even if no one else does. In The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis writes: “I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.” In other words, I will live as a patriotic citizen of the City of God, even if no one else does.
Be a Narnian.
That’s what you can do.
Excellent advice from a fine book.
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