Strength for your journey

                  Meditation for your Inspiration and Elevation

Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

                  Every Father, a man; Every man, A father

            Since we are a week from Father’s Day, I thought I’d focus this week’s meditation on fatherhood, but an aspect of fatherhood that you might not have considered before. Fatherhood is a responsibility that should be embraced, not just by biological fathers in a community, but by every man in the community who wants to contribute to the proper development of future generations. 

I have no biological children but have spent most of my life working with young people. Most of the books I’ve written are about young people; the lectures and workshops I’ve done were about young people, and even the outdoor time spent playing sports has been with young people. Since young people have been so much a part of my life, it seems natural to me to help with their development. 

We all benefit from children, so it is only fair and honorable that we all contribute to their wholesome upbringing. Even those who have no children would do well to support those who have them, which is the rationale for the subject of this meditation, “Every father, a man; every man, a father.” 

The phrase may sound a bit confusing at first, but it simply means that before any male becomes a father, he should be developed into a mature man; and that every man will be developed to support fatherhood and family life, even those who don’t intend to be biological fathers.

Every child, at the time of birth, should be seen as a future parent, and the preparation for parenting should begin at that point. When rearing children, parents should understand that they are rearing their children and grandchildren at the same time; for as they develop the children of one generation, they are developing the parents of the children of the next generation. Whenever one generation fails at parenting, they do harm to that generation and the generations that follow. 

It is tragic and self-destructive when a generation of parents allow a generation of children to come up among them who are not prepared for parenting. There is no greater responsibility that adults have than that of rearing children; so, to teach your children to rear their children is the greatest contribution you can make to them and future generations. 

In passing, I will interject here that no race will improve its status in this country until it can rear a generation of children that can master where they are and successfully embrace the next level of their development. Prepared fathers are essential for any group who wants to hold its own and improve its place in America.

So, we owe it to the boys among us to teach them to be fathers, and we owe it to the young women who will be the mothers of their children to teach them to play that role successfully. This Father’s Day season would be a good time to look at our teenage males and ask ourselves whether they are being prepared to be fathers, and if they are not, we should begin the great work necessary for that preparation. 

Fatherhood, above all else, should be the focus of our efforts. It is wonderful if our young men are great athletes, scholars, entrepreneurs, and outstanding in other ventures, but if they are failures as fathers, their success in everything else will be meaningless, and often short lived. I have never known a happy father who had failed at being a father. So, we should teach our young men to be fathers. 

Teaching our males to be fathers will not keep them from the other important things they wish to become; in fact, it will make them better prepared for those things. The attributes that are central to fatherhood are crucial for success in just about every worthwhile endeavor, and the genuine sense of responsibility common to fathers propel men to heights they will seldom reach if they only live for themselves.

Being responsible for a child raises a man’s capacity for responsibility to a level higher than just about anything else, which makes him more likely to be responsible for practically everything else.   

 So, during this season when we reflect on fatherhood, it would be great for us to commit ourselves to making sure that every male we influence is prepared to be a father, and every male, whether he becomes a biological father or not, values and supports fatherhood.  

And finally, we should always remember that boys are much more likely to grow into men who can be good fathers and good supporters of fatherhood when they choose to follow the ways of God. God is the father of us all, and any man who submits his life to God, by extension, can become a father to any of God's children. It is through that divine connection and extension that we will be able to ultimately declare, “Every Father, a man; Every man, A father.” And wherever that extension is made, we will have better fathers, better families, and better communities.  

William Jenkins