had a dad

A couple young friends of mine who got married this summer just found out they're going to be parents soon. My first thought (after "Whoa!") was, "That's a good way to grow up fast." I'm praying for them. As I wrote yesterday, the transition from child to "adult" can be a spiritually perilous one.

And it's not a transition we relish, I think. Though most young people are glad to get out from under parental restraints and authority, we don't like losing the security of having parents to take care of things.

I think this reaches us at a deeper level, too. A spiritual level. Where we always long for a Father, are frustrated when we can't seem to find Him, and may even feel pushed into the role ourselves ("because someone's gotta do it"). Jane's Addiction said it pretty well in the song, "Had a Dad":

Had a dad
big and strong
I turned around
found my daddy gone
He was the one
made me what I am today
It's up to me now
My daddy has gone away...

If you see my dad
tell him my brothers
[have] all gone mad
They're beating on each other
I walked around
even tried to call
Got that funny feeling

He's not there at all...