It is interesting that the first word in my Hebrew concordance is the word for father. The meaning is extensive, implying high level concepts and functions. We have not likely heard anyone adequately explain the meaning and extensions of the word as it is used in the Bible. It is treated with care. A father-in-law is identified with a different word. When God identifies himself as the God of a physical father, the receiver is presumed to listen with deep reverence, even fear and love. The mystery of life that relates to the generation of the father, whether physical or spiritual, has some spiritual meaning. There is analogy of meaning. With the partial loss of the gender meaning used in the Bible, caused by the current gender controversies related to equality interpretations, we may lose something important in the development of both family and devotion. The shifting roles by family members may mean loss in understanding and conduct for life and society. Some recent literature has raised serious objections to relating fatherhood to God. The point would change the introduction of The Lord’s Prayer, an icon statement for Christians.
Theorists argue that families need unity (oneness) if they are to be happy and successful. Key to wholeness, some argue, is in the place of the father in the family for leadership and respect of human relationships. Mothers are seen as the nurturers of the new generation, in a mysterious partnership with family members. Each member has his or her uniqueness related to the image of God in them. As God is represented in the father, the Holy Spirit in the mother, and the Son of God as the related Friend of the siblings, so we find part of that image. It shows in some way in the life and activity of each person. The Trinity is vested with a spiritual office for each Person, as each member of the family is vested in his or her own. It appears in practice that so many do not appreciate, so resist practicing, their spiritual meaning to the family and society. (Ephesians 5)
The point can be addressed in large and small ways. I remember from decades ago when one of my children announced, with great animation, that his report card had been signed every quarter by his Dad. From her personal motivation, the teacher had asked him why his father always signed his card. All other cards had been signed by mothers. For a shining moment, our son was a minor hero to twenty five other youngsters. His Dad always signed his card, and always responded to the notes of the teacher. In the exchange the teacher gave my son a note for me. The note invited me to make a visit to her in the school. I called the school and accepted the invitation. I privately wondered, what did my boy do that would require so drastic a measure as for me to meet with the teacher. I presumed that teachers would generally prefer to talk to mothers. It was clear that it was for me to respond, not my wife. I went and have remembered well a poignant exchange. The lovely young teacher said, in short: I am going to have a baby. I want my child to love his father as your son loves you. Your son drops words now and then that make it clear that he wants to be thought well-of by you, and that motivates him to do well. I want to find in my family what you, your wife, and your children have found in family. Over sixty years following that conversation, and my wife deceased in the interim, I continue to enjoy love bonds with my children – continuing motivation, learned from Scripture, and practiced actively. It was aided and abetted by their mother, their education – and God. I believe my children loved their mother as fully as they loved me; that they learned by our faults as well as by our virtues; that they wanted approval from us as they believed we wanted approval as good parents. That could only be accomplished by mother being mother, and father being father. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020