Cliff Notes

I grew up in a time without internet access. There's wasn't a handheld computer inches away from my person at all hours of the day. When we were privileged enough to touch a computer it was at school during library time. We had black screens with green letters and everyone played the same thing; Oregon Trail. We had our own versions of Miley Cyrus, Pharell, and Taylor Swift. Those were the days before Ipads, laptops, and the Xbox. In fact if you had told the teenage me that one day I would be writing a 400 word essay with my phone, I'd have looked at you like you were nuts for a variety of reasons.

I'm not ancient mind you. We had remote control TVs, VCRs, and Nintendos. We had our share of idols; people we looked up to. Those that helped shape us into who we would one day become. Mr. Rogers taught us we were all neighbors and should treat one another as such. Michael J. Fox took us all Back to the Future and inspired us to be scientists.  Of course there was the curious case of Dr Heathcliff Huxtable. I use the word curious because he was something I had never seen much of before....a dad that loved and cherished his family. 

Heathcliff didn't sit around all day screaming obscenities or making threats. He didn't show up just on weekends, promising to be back soon. Dr Huxtable loved his family and more importantly he loved being around them. When Sandra dropped out of Princeton to open a camping store, when Theo came home with an earring, when Rudy's elderly friend down the street stopped taking her medicine...they could always depend on dad to be there. Heathcliff was the dad we all wanted to have and one day wanted to be.

Sadly The Huxtables are fictional. A creation of an imaginative human being; Bill Cosby. And while I won't dare attempt to approach the allegations recently made against him whether they be true or false, to quote comedian Michael Che " The only thing Heathcliff Huxtible was ever quilty of is sneaking a giant hoagie in the middle of the night". Which in my eyes makes it even that more difficult to digest what is currently being said about the man behind the mask. 

Regardless of what you think of Mr. Cosby, we should all agree on one thing....he's just a man. A person like the rest of us and with that understanding comes the lesson that like the rest of us, he's a sinner; he makes mistakes. Yes we want to put Bill Cosby on a pedestal; to lift him up on high and think he can do no wrong. The truth is that there was only ever one perfect person and he sacrificed himself on a cross so that we may live. Jesus died for us and we can never lose focus of that.

We need examples of how to live better lives. We need people we can look up to and be inspired by.  Yet we should never forget that man is flawed. From the very beginning of time we've been getting things wrong and only through the love of our ever so gracious God will we ever manage to see each other again in Heaven someday. It's okay to admire man and their fictional creations....to look at Heathcliff Huxtable as an example of how a father should act, but let us never make the mistake of substituting a father figure for The Father figure.

Bill iii