So, today I was reminded of something. God is our Father. I’m blessed with a particularly great father and I’m not always a good or even an ok son. Some people don’t have that blessing and there are terrible or missing fathers. There are a lot of people who have grown up without a father being in the picture. I’m reminded of a friend of mine who became a teen mom but the father bailed out on the situation. (It was a good thing because he’s kinda a jerk.)
I think if I had to choose an image of fatherhood that our society has today it’s not a great one. He’s mostly missing, perhaps bumbling and a bother when he is there, and almost never good. I think the only time I’ve seen ‘a good dad’ as a character point is perhaps with Benjamin Sikso on Deep Space Nine. As a result, I think our society also views God in something of the same way. Mostly missing, perhaps bumbling and a bother if he is indeed there.
A story that reminds me of this is that of a young woman who goes to a catholic church to pray. A priest comes over and asks if he can help and starts to teach her the Lord’s prayer. ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ She can’t say those words because her father abused her and she doesn’t want to think of God as her father.
If anything, I have the opposite. My father is extremely godly, not in the pious sort of way but in the practical loving sort of way. He is knowledgeable enough to teach, and has helped me out of my faults time and again. He loves me. That doesn’t mean he’s doesn’t have his fierce side. Like C.S. Lewis said, ‘Of course you should be afraid, Aslan isn’t a tame Lion. But, he is good.’ One very important aspect of manliness is found in that dichotomy. However, it’s not a uniting of things that are opposites. Weak is not good. Evil is not strong. Good and Strong complement each other.
Because I’ve been lucky enough to have an amazing Father, I also am able to come to him with my problems and needs. It’s something that I’m not good at. I don’t like being a ‘bother’ or ‘disrespectful’. Coming to someone with your problems and needs isn’t either of those things, but it can feel like it. One of my flaws is that I don’t advocate strongly enough for myself because I don’t want to be a bother or disrespectful.
Regardless, I had a problem. I wasn’t going to be able to solve it myself so I needed my Dad’s help. It’s the sort of thing I want to be self-reliant about so it was especially embarrassing. My father helped me, and when we were finished with what needed doing he only asked me one question. “What did you learn from this?” He asked. I gave an answer. I don’t know if it was the one he was looking for.
One thing that I didn’t include was the fact that I have a good father. One who I’m able to ask anything from. I’m lucky that as a Christian, I don’t have one good father. I have two, one of whom is God himself. Just like I shouldn’t be afraid to ask my Earthly father for help, and he’ll give it. I shouldn’t be afraid to ask my heavenly father as well.
So, today I was reminded of something. God is our Father. I’m blessed with a particularly great father and I’m not always a good or even an ok son. Some people don’t have that blessing and there are terrible or missing fathers. There are a lot of people who have grown up without a father being in the picture. I’m reminded of a friend of mine who became a teen mom but the father bailed out on the situation. (It was a good thing because he’s kinda a jerk.)
I think if I had to choose an image of fatherhood that our society has today it’s not a great one. He’s mostly missing, perhaps bumbling and a bother when he is there, and almost never good. I think the only time I’ve seen ‘a good dad’ as a character point is perhaps with Benjamin Sikso on Deep Space Nine. As a result, I think our society also views God in something of the same way. Mostly missing, perhaps bumbling and a bother if he is indeed there.
A story that reminds me of this is that of a young woman who goes to a catholic church to pray. A priest comes over and asks if he can help and starts to teach her the Lord’s prayer. ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ She can’t say those words because her father abused her and she doesn’t want to think of God as her father.
If anything, I have the opposite. My father is extremely godly, not in the pious sort of way but in the practical loving sort of way. He is knowledgeable enough to teach, and has helped me out of my faults time and again. He loves me. That doesn’t mean he’s doesn’t have his fierce side. Like C.S. Lewis said, ‘Of course you should be afraid, Aslan isn’t a tame Lion. But, he is good.’ One very important aspect of manliness is found in that dichotomy. However, it’s not a uniting of things that are opposites. Weak is not good. Evil is not strong. Good and Strong complement each other.
Because I’ve been lucky enough to have an amazing Father,