A Challenge for Fathers

Father’s Day has been a bit different for me this year. Throughout my developmental years Father’s Day was a time in June to recognize my father and grandfather for the love they showed me, and the examples of what I wanted to be when I grew up. My first son was born almost six years ago and at that time I was still thinking mostly of the family patriarchs, which now included another great example in my wife's father. Now, two more sons later my focus has shifted more toward myself, and being a father in my own right. My thoughts had been swirling for some time on the issue, but recent societal and cultural trends coupled with my reading of a book by Blaise Pascal have provided some clarity.

Blaise Pascal is perhaps best known for his mathematical work with conic sections and atmospheric pressure, but he was also a proficient thinker of his day and wrote several works that provide some dramatic insight into culture that is relevant today. Pascal wrote "The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and yet it is the greatest of our miseries. For that is what prevents us principally from thinking about ourselves, and which, without our being aware of it, bring about our ruin". At some point in all our lives we begin to search for some important answers to life. Some have said that truth, purpose and fulfillment in life can best be described by finding coherent answers to questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny; or stated otherwise: Where did I come from? Why am I here? How should I behave? What will happen to me when I die? What Pascal is saying is that when we begin to look seriously at those questions, we figure they are just too hard to deal with so we willingly seek out things that will divert our attention. Just a quick look at our culture today and it is easy to see that life for fathers in particular, and for men in general, is rife with possible diversions. I took five minutes and generated the following list of things to which we give our time: work, television, sports (watching and participating), internet, time out with friends, vehicles, hobbies, lawn and garden and travel (with work or vacations) just to name a few. I am not suggesting that these things are in and of themselves a bad thing; but as Pascal states so simply and eloquently, "we run heedlessly over the edge of the precipice, after placing something before our eyes to keep ourselves from seeing it." As fathers our diversions are devastating because our sons and daughters will be the next ones to ask questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny and we will have allowed ancillary distractions to completely take the place of the conveyance of truth and meaning in their lives. A recent promotion on the largest sports network challenged men to protect their “fanhood”. According to the associated commercials, a man could commit no more egregious mistake than to be asked a question about the local sports team and not be able to come up with the correct answer. The message was conveyed with total clarity: knowledge of the physical attributes, histories, and statistics of your favorite sports team was a more important use of time than contemplation of issues of truth, morality or the nature of God and man.

Perhaps the most pertinent question of our day is what possible explanation could there be that sufficiently links those four questions of life? I have spent the last 3 or so years seriously reading and studying to try to come up with my own answer. I am absolutely convinced that a Biblical worldview in general, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in particular, is the only way to answer these most serious of questions in a non-contradictory way. In addition to being a great mathematician and thinker, Pascal was also a committed follower of Christ. He wrote, "…if there is one true religion on earth the course of all things must direct them toward it as toward their center…that true religion must be so definitely the goal and center toward which all things gravitate that whoever knows its principles can comprehend fully the nature of man in particular and the course of the world in general…the Christian religion which consists essentially in the mystery of the Redeemer (Christ) who, uniting in himself the two natures, human and divine, has drawn men out of the corruption of sin to reconcile them with God in his divine person." Meaning in life comes from the existence of an overarching purpose. The Bible provides this overarching purpose in the form of worship. Archbishop William Temple describes worship this way: "Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose. All this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of all expressions of which we are capable." In short, God created us so He would receive glory, and when everything we think, feel, do and say is with the directed intention of bringing Him glory then it is also filled with meaning.

Psalm 16:9-11 says, "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." All fathers pass something on to their children. My challenge is for all fathers, for all men (as some may some day be fathers), to spend more time considering those things most important in life; to think about our origin, the meaning in life, what morality really is and where it comes from, and what will happen after we are gone. These are questions our children will inevitably ask. We can either help them answer those questions by passing along a coherent framework of truth, or we can teach them to shirk the consideration of those questions in lieu of diversions. I, for one, have a lot of work to do.