Secure Fathers

  Looking back, I know that I have been influenced by many people- fathers especially. There have been few that have been a positive role model. Sadly, most of the men have been just the opposite and models that I have said, "I don't want to be like that when I grow up." Fortunately, I have not grown up and when I first meet someone, I still look at the man's character to see if he is the kind of person I want to be around. I won't list those qualities. You can figure it out yourself. You know. You can see it instantly. Its why Jesus was so popular and why the crowds followed Him.

  Not to say that we men can be perfect like Jesus. We can't. We are all sinners. We never seem to grow up- no matter what our age is. That's the problem today. It seems the paths that Jesus has placed us on have somehow been sidetracked and lead to one place- self. And if I see a man that has arrived at the end of that path- I know I will have difficulty being around him. Not to say I couldn't try to be his friend, but it would take more effort. For usually men become secure in whatever path they find themselves on, even if it is one that leads them the wrong way, only because they feel good there, secure there.

  But is that where Christ would want us to end up? I'd say- NOT! He wants us to be like Him. To be compassionate, yet firm, with love and respect for our wives, sons and daughters. Most of all to be humble and loving as Christ loved us. This path leads to security- to Him. And it is this kind of man and father that I see as a positive role model. It is one model this man has tried to be, even though I have failed in it and am a sinner. It is the type of man I have tried to portray as the patriarch in each of my Curse of the Eraser series of four books. Fathers that are not secure in the world and its goods, but fathers secure in the love of their families and most of all, secure in the love of Christ.

  Maybe that is best left to fiction like Ward and June Cleaver, or is it?