Eric’s “entrustment ceremony” letter to Baby Kip

November 14th, 2008

Dear Kipling,

I feel in many ways that the birth parents of William Wallace have come to me and requested that I raise their young noble to be a warrior poet.  As a result, I am very cognizant of the fact that a great and mighty man, in but an infantile form, has been entrusted to my care – a man who will live boldly and die courageously.  And as a father, I consider it the highest honor and the gravest most serious task to raise you right, in order that your mighty calling is not in the least bit diminished. 

It will be my privilege to train you in the fine, yet gritty art of manhood, to groom you after the sacred code of heavenly honor and to inculcate in your heart and mind the blueprint of a truly heroic life.  I feel passionately that my sons will be as the sons of Zebedee – born of thunder and engraced with wings of holy abandon. 

I’ve often been snickered at because of my love for the grand and epic, my taste for the poetic turn of phrase, and my seemingly larger than life perspective on reality.  But to you, my son, I pray it is never a laughing matter, but that you apprehend it as the sacred pattern of heaven that it is, and that you rise up and grab the hilt of the sword and claim your place among the company of heroes standing at the city gate.  For we are not at a time of peace, but a time of war.  And I pray that the majesty and granduer of the vision you receive from me, of what life is, what it could be, and how it can be grasped, be not in the slightest way diminished, for I will pass on to you the ancient secret of Gospel life and power. 

Kipling, my son, you have a father.  And as your father I have already pre-decided that your life is above my own.  And I will serve my God by passionately serving my God’s agenda for your life. 

So, my little “William Wallace,” I declare before the host of heaven and before the witnesses here tonight, “That I, Eric Winston Ludy, covenant to love you as bone of my bone and I promise to serve you as a young prince in my household.”

Kipling, I love you with no less fervor than I do my other children.  What I have is yours, and whatever battles you will face, I will stand up to them as my very own. 

With a father’s deep affection,

Daddy