It doesn't take a lot to read between the lines and see a father that feels shattered with disappointment and fear. He will never get to meet his new daughter-in-law. He will never be Gramps or Paw-Paw to some wonderful little tyke. And he will always fear for his son's physical health and spiritual well-being.
Perhaps if this son was not so self absorbed and happy to wallow in his self pity and drama, he may have been able to feel his father's pain and attempt to bridge the gap... instead of flying his gay agenda flag on the back of his father's sincere letter.
I do not know a single father/son relationship that does not have some sort of conflict in it somewhere...It doesn't take a lot to read between the lines and see a father that feels shattered with disappointment...[who will] always fear for his son's physical health and spiritual well-being. Perhaps if this son was not so self absorbed and happy to wallow in his self pity and drama, he may have been able to feel his father's pain and attempt to bridge the gap...There is a great deal of commentary on this thread that is well thought out, but when I got to yours, my eyes welled up. I agree that sin is all about self; and yes, "some sort of conflict" is in all father/son relationships. And when the dad says, "If you choose not to attend my funeral, my friends and family will understand," I thought, while hopeless-sounding, it also showed a great love. And heck, even St. Monica finally kicked out Augustine, and although she never said she "disowned" him, neither did the father use that word in his letter. My guess is that he'd see his son again if he chose to leave his sinful lifestyle, however, now that his son has printed out his letter (complete with last name displayed in one of DM's captions last night--it's since been removed--maybe not).