In Search Of Fatherhood

And he rose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 'for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.
Luke 15: 20-23 NKJV

Each time I think of a perfect father, I recall the parable of the prodigal son in Luke15.  This young man had siezed his opportunity to "sieze the day" and, after collecting his inheritance, had left home with high hopes.  Well, long story short, the lad squanders his inheritance on what today would be called loose living.  It didn't take long before the boy realizes that perhaps he had made a mistake in leaving home.  His solution, return home to his father, beg his forgiveness and beg for a job as one of his fathers servants.  His plan may have worked had not the boys father had compassion on his lost son and showered him with affection upon his return.  No doubt dad had been agonizing over his wayward sons behavior since he left home, that's just what most parents do.  Notice that I said MOST parents, there are those exceptions.

According to The United States Census Bureau...
~ 43% of children inn the United States live without a father at home.
~ 90% of runaway children are from fatherless homes.
~ 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father
~ 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes
~ 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
~ 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.

These statistics paint a stunning picture as to just how far we've fallen in our society.  As a result of our own selfishness, we may have single handedly destroyed a generation of our own children.  We've become fond of placing the blame for the downfall of our children on other factors such as television, drugs, alchohol and hanging with the wrong people.  I could go on, but why?  Are we too blind to see that we ourselves are a large part of this problem?  For example, my own father was a alchoholic and unfaithful in his marriage.  Was it my brother and I who were ultimately responsible for my dads behavior?  No, that burden lays squarely with my dad.  I'd suggest there was nothing I did that contributed to my parents divorce.  I didn't  convince my dad to go out and get drunk or to cheat on my mother!  In fact, if I'd had a say in the matter I'm sure I would have smacked him in the head and told him to man up and save his family!  My point here is, it was ultimately my dads selfish choices that led to the breakup of our family.
For the most part, I spent many years of my childhood searching for a way to explain why my dad did what he did.  How many more children out there have had the very same experience?  We've seen the statistics already.  What we should be asking ourselves is "Why have we, as men, dropped the ball so often  in this area?"  As I've mentioned, I believe it comes down to our own selfish choices.  There are countless books and resources out there on what makes a good father, but all of this can be for not if someone has no desire but for himself and his own needs.  Where can we look to in our search for fatherhood?  Well, I believe a good start would be from the same source that created the institution of fatherhood, our Lord God.  After all, it is our own heavenly father who loved us enough to send his son to die for us.  No greater love has ever been known.  As I've mentioned, in the Luke 15 parable of the prodigal son we have a wonderful example of fatherhood.  I've always believed that Jesus used this parable to teach of the selfless love that our own heavenly father has for us.  We may have imperfect parents and a broken home, but our  heavenly father has loved us first.

~Scott~