A few weeks ago, I forgot my mum’s birthday. Well, I say forgot. I actually remembered it was her birthday and bought a card. What I failed to do was to call her up, wish her happy birthday, or even post the card to her. This is even more unforgivable when you know that I live about a mile away from her. When I finally caught up with her a week later, I felt pretty bad about myself and was really embarrassed that as her son I could treat her that way.

But that shame got me thinking about my role as a son and quite what that means. I have to admit that it is very rare that I view myself in the context of a son. As a youth worker, I am used to seeing myself more as an adult, a leader, perhaps even a father figure as I go about organising programmes, enforcing boundaries and (hopefully) encouraging young people. The son thing rarely comes into it.

My wife Kirsty tells me that through her Psychology studies she learnt about far eastern cultures and how they view themselves in the context of their relationship to others. For example, the Japanese have no concept of ‘I’ as an isolated individual. If you ask who they are, all their answers are given in relation to their roles in society; I am a father, I am a brother, I am a co-worker.

Looking at myself in this way, I wonder what I can learn about who I am now and who I’m created to be. I may be doing OK as a ‘father’, but I’m certainly failing as a son. How do I measure up to my heavenly father? Am I far too busy being a grown-up to enjoy and appreciate the special relationship that comes from being a child of the King?