Father

I would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and to the forefathers of this world: To the past; to the present; and, to those who are yet to be fathers.

There is a sense of mystery when I think of the meaning of father. To know what a father is and to understand a father’s love is not easy to define or understand, as we do a mother’s love. There is a mystical, and an almost larger than life expectation of fathers: A father’s love seems to have a reserved and guarded presence and a distant watchfulness on their offspring.

Often, we think of fathers as protectors, providers and sustainers of a family. We have great and high expectations in their role of being a father; and that role in many ways is intertwined with our mother’s love for our fathers and intertwined with their oneness. Of course, we are not all fortunate to have our fathers close or even present.

The male principle and what is masculine is defined by power and strength and hopefully tempered by a level of humanity. When a male displays a level of giving and understanding to his fellow men and women, we generally refer to them as gentlemen. When do we refer to women as gentle women? Built into language is the very understanding that women naturally display gentleness but when a man displays his gentler nature, he is referred to as a “gentle-man”. Of course, there is a range of meaning and social definitions connected to the understanding of what a gentleman is, but generally speaking masculinity is associated more with a physical bravado and even brutish power. Mind you, men are stereotyped as less feeling which is far from the truth. In fact, when one becomes a father it’s transformative. Fathers have very deep emotions and love.

Okay, I have side stepped a bit, so let’s think about what a father means, and specifically to yourself; and, in many cases what the definition of a father is because so many of us grow up with busy dads who are not always present, love aside from the issue, and in many cases just non-existent. When we are young and childish it is easy to think our fathers are harder on us or even uncaring at times, because most of us connect more with our mothers directly and daily. Fathers usually come onto a scene when a mother feels she needs some disciplinary support or reasoning. Usually when a father gets involved it’s about establishing a certain seriousness and order. In my experience, my father was the highest court of enforcement of the rules when discipline required duty, and respect. I do recall on many occasions when my father rescued me from my mother’s discipline. (Smile)

Fathers ultimately have their place in the material world, at large. When we are young we experience the everyday comings and goings as a father’s journey to his work and returns. A father’s love is bridged through his service to his family and to the world.  We do not experience a mother in the same way, even though mothers do go out into the world and work as well. Once upon a time it was mainly the fathers who worked and the mothers who stayed home. Despite the traditional roles have somewhat altered, a father’s role has the same relevance.

A role of a father is an enigmatic one – if the feminine is divine, then the masculine is just as sacred. Humanity often defines and sees God in the masculine more often than in the feminine. Fathers are equally important as mothers. Often we speak of our Creator and maker in terms of He and Him, even though we know that it is the female who births us into the world.

The name father is sacred to me; and, as I think of my worldly father in this life, I often think of my overarching Divine Father.

Father is a symbol of the Creator and a father’s love cannot be easily understood. Fathers express their love mainly in terms of providing for their families, protecting his offspring and providing leadership. Fathers don’t often verbally express their love, nor do a lot of fathers physically express their affection. This distant, even detached affection is often an illusion because a true fathers love is far from distant. In fact, a father’s love is accessed through action and what we often forget is that great love often is beyond words and such “love unexpressed is sacred”. Intensity of emotions is felt but often times not seen. That “love unexpressed is sacred”.  I carry this thought with me throughout my life. It is easy to misinterpret that fathers don’t love as intensely as mothers. This is not true. When a father expresses love it is highly powerful with a storm of practicality and logic and reason, and yet emotions that fills the universe with its own electrical charge.

There is so much more that I can write about fathers, but I will briefly say here that what ultimately sums up what my father was and still is to me is that my father was my “first teacher”.

I wish everyone a Blessed Day with their fathers; or in memory of their father, and reflection on the meaning of what a father is to you, and what a father means to the world.  If you have not known or come close to a father’s love, know that a greatest expression of a father’s love is to place your faith and love in the higher masculine concept of creation and the sacred nature of the all-life giving seed in this Universe.