The importance of fathering

[4honor]

I just finished a new book out there called The Shack. For fiction, it is a thought provoking work. It is written by William P. Young. (To read more about the book go to www.theshackbook.com (http://www.theshackbook.com).) I am not going to try to sell anyone on reading it or buying it.

That being said, the one thing that was excruciatingly clear is that despite our own perceived failings, God as Father is so incredibly important to our own personal healing,  our spiritual and mental health, and our ability to create and maintain relationships with our families, friends and fellow man.

In one part, Mack, the main character asks God, ".. why is there such an emphasis on you being a Father? I mean, it seems to be the way you most reveal yourself."

"Well," responded Papa, turning away from him and bustling around the kitchen, "there are many reasons for that and some of them go very deep.Let me say for now that we knew once Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed -- but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence."

Now some may think the author is again going down the men bad/woman good path, but having read the rest of the book, I see it as saying that a human being's relationship with one's father is so important, so essential, that God choses to reveal Himself to us as a surrogate Father in order that we not go entirely without. I beleive that God is neither male nor female. And to know that the God of creation choses to limit Himself to one gender to make sure I have a loving father in my life... that is how important fathering is.

During the years after my mother had successfully performed her fatherectomy, I was not much more than a lost child. I turned to God to get through the day to day stuff. I clung to the promise that God will be a father to the fatherless. (And He was, never failing to love me, care for me, provide just what I needed and just when I needed it.) However, in God's infinite wisdom, He provided a reconciliation with my father. My true healing came when I learned to forgive my father for all the hurts, either real or imagined. That moment of restoration of my relationship with my father has been a turning point for me.