Manhood
A few years ago I had the privilege of attending a weekly mens meeting
In that meeting I found my manhood.
the leaders dealt with real men's issues
and presented role models to us.
older Christian men shared their story, their love for the Lord.
younger men shared their dreams
the leader challenged us.
it was good
it was wholesome
in many the Pastor though probably in his thirties
was a father to us
in him and other key leaders we saw Fatherhood being modeled.
(I'd love to acknowledge it but the group has closed and the Pastor has a different ministry. Acknowledgement can lead to enquiries and no one is in a position to respond so enquiries.)
Fatherlessness
Fatherlessness is prevelant in modern western society
- a boys whoes Father died. God's word directs the elders of the church to care for the Fatherless
- boys rained by their mothers - single parent or post divorce
- absent fathers - there but not there - disconnected, self absorbing
- fathers who abused their sons
Regardless of the cause many men are in fact or in effect fatherless.
Some of us were raised in "good homes" "perfect families" on the outside but on the inside such ugliness
that to recover some of us have had to re-assess weather we are in effect fatherless or to become fatherless - such is the toxicity of the pretence of what was or has become so destructive that a son has had to end limit or cease contact,
in order to survive in his adult world.
Something is wrong when a man hears the stories of boys or teenagers or young adults who were etiher kicked out of home,
or left home, and he finds the raport so strong that it is almost envy
and he begins to consider "what if I had escaped..."
He came to the realisation that he wasn't really in his parents home - he was physically there
but his heart wasn't there
his hopes, his dreams, his attachments were somewhere else.
It's time to cut loose
and not be ruled by his father any longer.