A stake patriarch spoke recently in his ward's sacrament meeting about two kinds of patriarchs: those ordained to give patriarchal blessings to members in their stakes and fathers in the home.

He said that when his children were young, he was able to help them with their homework. But as they grew older and their studies became more advanced, he realized he could help them less and less. His youngest son, Matthew, enrolled at the university. "I knew there wasn't anything I could do to help him study computer science," he said, "but there was one thing I could do. I could give him a father's blessing." He said that Matthew studied diligently and, when facing an important test, asked for a father's blessing.

This father and son recognized a great gift from the Lord. President Spencer W. Kimball said: "It is the right of every father and his duty as patriarch of his own family to give a father's blessing to his children, and it is our hope that every father will give a sacred blessing to each of his children, especially as they are leaving home to go to school or on missions or to be married, which blessing should then be noted in the individual's private journal" (October 1977 general conference).

Occasionally, members of the Church turn to priesthood leaders or home teachers when seeking blessings. The father, if he is a worthy holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, ought to be given the first consideration.

While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Ezra Taft Benson was asked by a young man for a blessing. He asked the young man if he loved his father. When the youth said he did, Elder Benson said, "How would you like to talk to him at an opportune time and ask him if he would be willing to give you a father's blessing?"

A few days later, the young man said, "Brother Benson, that was the sweetest thing that has happened in our family. . . . When the opportunity was right, I mentioned it to Father, and he replied, 'Son, do you really want me to give you a blessing. I told him, 'Yes, Dad. I would like you to.' Then . . . he gave me one of the most beautiful blessings you could ever ask for. Mother sat there crying all during the blessing. When he got through there was a bond of appreciation and gratitude and love between us that we have never had in our home' " (Ensign, November 1977, p. 32).

Elder J. Richard Clarke, an emeritus member of the Seventy, spoke in the April 1989 general conference about how he once had felt deprived because he had never received a father's blessing. Elder Clarke said: "I telephoned my father and said, 'Dad, I'd like to ask you a favor. You can do something for me that no other living person can do. I would like a father's blessing.' . . .

"To my knowledge, he had never given a father's blessing before, and he was nervous. At the age of 84, he placed his quivering hands upon my head. And this son will never forget the supreme joy of hearing a proud father pour out his heart in a blessing — a blessing which will be held sacred and cherished not because of its eloquence but because it came from my father. I hope, brethren, that you will not deny your children this choice experience."

Those who have the opportunity to give and receive a father's blessings ought to cherish the experience. Not every Latter-day Saint has the opportunity to receive a father's blessing, either because his or her father isn't a member of the Church or is deceased.

Two young women were leaving home to travel together to a college in a distant state. One spent the night with the other, anticipating an early-morning departure. As the hour approached for them to leave for the airport, the friend's father placed his hands on his daughter's head and gave her a father's blessing. The young guest felt a yearning begin to grow, it seemed, from the very depth of her soul.

"That was nearly three decades ago, but I remember the longing I felt then as if I experienced it just moments ago," she said. "I couldn't imagine how I would feel to hear my father pronounce a father's blessing. My love for my father didn't diminish, but how I wished he had been a member of the Church and had held the authority to send me out into the world with that kind of blessing!

"We both had good families, but I couldn't help comparing my circumstances with those of my friend. Hers was an active LDS family, but I was the only active member in my family. I envisioned her leaving home with some sort of a protective shield that came with her father's blessing. I felt vulnerable."

If fathers are unable to do so, home teachers or other brethren can convey special blessings — another evidence of the Lord's great wisdom and love for all His children.