rach Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 So it's father's day and I've been thinking about...well....fathers. One of the things about Christianity that I found appealing was that the scriptures seemed supportive of orphans, at least most of the scriptures that I am familiar with. "A father to the fatherless", God is called in the scripture. And I always thought of Jesus christ as an orphan because Mary and Joseph were not his actual parents-he was just sent to them but not really theirs. From infancy I did not have my parents but I did have adoptive parents instead. Anyways, being an orphan it seems you are always looking to find a father figure. I think I was trying to replace my father (bio father) with the Christian God because I didn't have anyone to take that role in my life. You often hear Christians start their prayers "Father, we come to you now..." or "Our father who art in heaven....". I never felt comfortable enough to pray like that. It was always "dear God...". If you want to know what it is like to have only God as a father imagine taking your father (if he's a good one that is) and erasing him. Imagine he becomes invisible and mute. Imagine he's written an obscure and bizarre and quite honestly horrifying book that you are supposed to read in order to get to know him. Imagine silently, from your mind, attempting to ask all your important life questions to "your father" and having only silence to answer you. Or needing direct advice and having to search through that giant book he's written and not being able to find the answers you needed. Imagine working your a$$ off every day exhausted not getting a rest because although you pray to "your father" to provide for you the manna isn't exactly falling from the sky. Imagine being Jesus christ and knowing daddy's sent you here to be crucified. Just wanted to share some thoughts this fathers day from an orphan whose been pondering these things. I guess the point I am trying to make is that God can't replace an actual human father, can't do the things for you that an actual human father can do. We always heard at church "God is all sufficient" but of course there are things that you need other people for. I do believe in God actually but I do not consider myself as religious, just spiritual. The good men in the world ought to take it upon themselves to serve as father figures in one way or another, for orphans. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 I just read this, and yes, nothing replaces an actual, real father or father figure. My dad died four years ago and I was lucky to have him for 45 years. Nothing, especially an invisible, mute sky-daddy, could ever replace him. My dad's father abandoned his family when my dad was 3, so my dad had only one brief memory of him. But my dad told me that when he was in high school, around 1950, he got a part time job at a garage on the corner, and the owner became his father figure. My dad had great memories of Buddy and the garage, where he worked for some years after high school, too. RIP Buddy and RIP my dad, Eddy -- both now up at that Great Garage in the Sky! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted October 14, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 14, 2013 This may be a post more suited for the spirituality section, but in all seriousness God as the transcendent source, end, and supporting ground of all life and being is necessarily: God the Father. God the Mother. God the Brother. God the Sister. God the any given relative. God the complete unrelated stranger. God the entire macrocosm. God the entire microcosm. And more importantly, God the you yourself.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rach Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 @ Amateur I am happy for you to have had a caring father for so many years and that your dad had Buddy. @ Josh I like to imagine the stars, moon, sun, and just the whole cosmos as being my "god", my father, and weird or not- I often speak outloud to it or make prayers to it. I do feel a spiritual connection to "outer space" (looks so peaceful, quiet, dark and beautiful out there!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted October 18, 2013 Super Moderator Share Posted October 18, 2013 My parents divorced when I was very young. So the "God the Father" idea had a certain appeal for me when I was a kid. Obviously that appeal didn't stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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