So now that we’ve established that America is messed up, let’s look at why. People have various opinions on this (naturally), but I think it starts with the family. The family starts with the dad.
I’m looking at the fatherless generation* and my heart is currently breaking. Right now. I knew things were bad, but....
– 43% of US children live without their father (!)
– 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes
– 71% of pregnant girls lack a father
– 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes
– Wow right? Sadly, those are just a few…
Families are messed up across the nation, and it starts with the dad. Biblically, God put the father in charge of the house**. He is to guide it and help develop those in his care.
Proverbs 22:6 states: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 states, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
“and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (ASV)
The problem is that if there is no trainer there is no training. If there is no teacher there is no teaching. Families appear when they should not and children are born into bleak situations.
Children grow and aren’t taught right from wrong. Guys join gangs to seek approval and manhood that only a father can give. Girls chase after those guys to seek protection and self-worth that only a dad can give. It’s a destructive cycle because then those unmarried girls start families too early and– you get the picture.
All of this contributes to a culture that is not grounded in anything other than “do what you think or feel is right, follow your heart”. Barbie movies notwithstanding, this formula doesn’t end well.
Okay, So Where Are We Now?
Families don’t have fathers, which means the mother has to be both the mother (run the day to day activities in the house) and the father (guiding the direction of the family). The problem with this is that they also have to bring in the dough!
So the moms are working at least one job, so they can’t be both the mom and dad at the same time. Oh, who could possibly help?
Enter the school systems and media. The school systems babysit the children for most of the time the mom is working, and media (movies, t.v. shows, social media, etc.) does the rest.
If God’s not involved, situations will fail. And they have, just look at the stats above. The schools can’t replace the father because overcrowded classrooms can’t address individual needs, struggles, hopes, personalities, etc.
As for the media, all you need to do is look at the people being idolized. Most celebrities are not happy people, folks. Unfortunately, these people are being worshipped. However, if magazines and song lyrics are any indicators, they are not satisfied. They also are looking for someone in their life to tell them they are worth something. They, too, need someone to tell them to stop chasing after what doesn’t last. Celebrities are just more victims of this fatherless generation.
What Does This Have to Do With the Last Post?
I admit, I’ve gone off on a bit of a closely related tangent. But it was a good tangent. Now let me try to rescue it by tying it to the last post.
When a block of land has no developer, it stays... undeveloped. Its potential is not tapped. It’s not good for much until something comes along and does something with it.
That’s how it is with the soul. When we are born, we have potential. But that potential will only be reached if the soul is disciplined, refined (knows right from wrong, beauty from non-beauty), and rational.
Without the father, none of this happens because the training regimen (life lessons, discipline, guidance) is not put into place. The school systems tell a student to remember X and to make sure to write X on a piece of paper. If this is done, the student has “done good”. When teens get home, the media tells them to idolize… things that are not beautiful, let’s just say.
That is not developing the soul.
As a result, the soul’s potential remains untapped, because there is no one there to make sure that it is developed. No one that cares AND can offer personal, individual assistance that is necessary to take a human and set him free.
*While writing this post, I was graciously reminded (shout out to K!) that Christians always have a Father, whether physical and spiritual or both. Psalm 68:5 states:
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
Wow, “A father to the fatherless”. Though earthly fathers will disappoint (they are sinners like everyone else), there is always hope with our God. He IS our hope, in fact.
**Insert typical Christian disclaimer here: by stating that a father is “in charge”, I don’t mean that he lords it over everyone else and acts like a tyrant. Also, I don’t mean that he is more important than the mother. All I mean is that the father is the leader and is to guide the direction of a family. Without the mother, that’s not possible either. But that’s another post.
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