I’m looking forward to soon discovering the insights that James Stroud has discovered that being a father reveals about God.
In the three months of experiences since my daughter Cecilia was born, I have learned some very powerful testimony concerning the discovery of God. There were some frustrating times during that first week with Cecilia. Talk about a major learning curve for a new father and a new mother. It must have been during the first two or three weeks at home with Cecilia that I was struck with an insight about God. During one of the whispered conversations with my wife at night (whispered because Cecilia sleeps in our bed), I said that seeing Cecilia completely dependent upon my wife for most of her needs, I cannot help but draw a very powerful connection between a mother and a newborn in that the mother is the face of God to this new and precious life.
Technorati Tags: fatherhood, parenthood
Regarding the connection between a mother and newborn…it is certainly true and I noticed it immediately with my wife.
When dealing with life’s stresses and problems, it is important to return to this observation, and that of a father’s role, to put things into perspective.
It IS a wonderful metamorphosis, learning to be a father. But its part of the frustrating voyage of discovery that God turns out to be different on so many levels and in so many ways from what we expected! If only He’d quit horsing around and play by our rules. It’s not FAAAAAIR!
The older I get, the surer I am that the dominant note if we reach Heaven will be…Surprise! Not that we were “wrong”, but that we didn’t understand what “right” was, although we will recognize it. Pope Ratzinger quotes some Lateran Council in one of his books defining that even when we express a Truth, the OVERWHELMING majority of its substance is dark to us.
And, per Mr. Stroud’s reflections, halleluia for sleeping with your baby. Highly recommended. We have two munchkins under three and another on the way, and we’ve fully eschewed the nursery/crib routine. We find sleep-sharing sublime (although the term family bed needs a long hiatus).