Fatherhood

I would like to express my gratitude for how much the Fatherhood of God has meant to me throughout my life.

I was born in Buenos Aires, in the Argentine, and our home life was far from happy. My father was a heavy drinker, he was often out of work, and when I was very young, he left my mother for another woman. We were left virtually destitute, as my father never provided my mother with any financial support once he had left the family home.

Not long after he disappeared, my mother started attending a Christian Science church in Buenos Aires, and my sister and I were enrolled in the Sunday School. When my father lived with us, he was not happy for my mother to pursue her fledgling interest in Christian Science, so an early blessing of his disappearance was a new-found freedom to learn more about this religion.

One of my earliest recollections of attending Sunday School was learning about God, and in particular, discovering that God is the Father and Mother of each one of us...that we are the beloved children of this all-loving Parent. My early childhood had left me lacking any sense of fatherhood. A verse from the Bible subsequently became one of my favourite texts, "Have we not all one Father?? It was such a joy to learn that my heavenly Father would never disappoint me or desert me, would never leave me destitute or alone, but would always be there for me, loving me and holding me safe from harm. During those early Sunday School years, I memorised Mrs. Eddy’s poem for Little Children, which brought me great comfort and reassurance:

Father-Mother God, Loving me, Guard me when I sleep, Guide my little feet up to Thee.

There’s a wonderful passage in Matthew, which describes a conversation between Jesus and his disciples. It casts such light on Jesus’ understanding of his one true Parentage. It reads in part, "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him, Who is my mother? And who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother..." Although loving his human mother dearly, Jesus must have seen so clearly that he had emanated from God, from his infinite Father-Mother, and that his true identity had its source in that glorious, divine fact.

For this ever-growing understanding of God as my Father, and my Mother, I am truly grateful.


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