Lost Fathers
“Father issues are a big part of the show thematically,” says Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse. Several characters on the show have “issues” with their family, especially with their fathers. Locke experiences betrayal from his father, Aaron was abandoned by his father, Jack has an uneasy relationship (at best) with his father, Sun’s father is a criminal, and it’s apparent that several other characters’ fathers are dead.
Over 50% of children in North America will grow up at some point in a single parent home. What significance could fatherly absense or failing hold for our own personal lives? If we have grown up in a hostile parental environment, we may still hold negative attitudes to parental figures. Could this be a reason why accepting God as Father, and not just an impersonal deity, is so difficult? If God exists, would He really be like our own fathers, or would our own fathers, as wonderful or dreadful as they can be, really be pale imitations of our heavenly father?
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When I first started to learn about God, it was extremely hard for me to start to pray. The people who were helping me learn kept telling me to talk to Him as I would to my father face-to-face. Well, considering I never knew my father and I don’t have an excellent relationship with my step-dad, that was next to impossible. It took a lot of practice and some help from others just for me to try to talk to our Father in Heaven.
How can someone who has uneasy relationships with the “fathers” in their lives even think about having a Father who loves us and wants us to succeed? Because I grew up not knowing how to talk to my father and step-dad, how was I supposed to speak to God? It’s so hard to know how to talk and what to say. You just need to be able to step outside that comfort zone and attempt it.
I believe that people who have difficult relationships with the fathers in their lives need that extra help learning how to communicate with our Heavenly Father. It really does make it more difficult; at least in my experience.
My husband and I are separated and my daughters are seeing a Christian counselor. One of the neatest things she does is gently compare their father with our Father. Never tearing down their dad, but rather building up God. He is always there, he always loves us, he never fails, etc. Their dad has lots of great qualities, so they can talk those through, too. It is a great way to explain that we are all human and therefore, broken. But, that God is God and while people in our lives may model Christ-like qualities, they are no substitute. Only God can fill our every need. It’s been a great thing to reflect on in my own quiet time, too.
it’s amazing to think so many men could reneg on their responsibilities. Society is definitely at a crisis point and I think future generations will adopt more conservative attitudes.