father

of all of the crappy metaphors in the world,
why did god choose the most prominent one
to reveal his loving nature to us,
as a loving father.

father god is stern, yet caring.
wise, and understanding.
strong, and steadfast.

unfortunately, the perception
of who our own fathers are,
ultimately shape our own views
of father god.

there are absent fathers;
religious fundamental-freak fathers;
abusive fathers;
fathers that live vicariously through our lives
by pushing us to do sports and other activities.

when i think of today's modern father,
images of homer simpson and
peter griffin immediately come to mind:
an overweight, balding, negligent,
unintelligent man that simply pays the bills,
lacks social interaction with his family,
and prefers the company of a local pub.

and in spite of these horrifically real stereotypes,
god has chosen to be labelled as a father.
as a father myself, i would never
want my attitude and actions
to throw off my children's perspective
of who god is.

i suppose the best way to go about is,
is to determine which characteristics
that god exudes that we admire,
and seek to live in light of those actions,
and allow them to guide our every step.

perhaps ours could be the generation
to lay this god-father-complex to rest,
and allow our children to understand
god as father, as he initially intended.