How I understand what it means for God to be my father changes how I am a father. How I am a father will shape how my daughter understands God. More than just ideas about masculinity or belief in the nature of God, children are shaped by how they experience or don’t experience their fathers. We don’t just need better ideas about what it means to be a father but practices that help make better fathers.
Unfortunately, many resources for fathers have narrow understandings of masculinity and are often complementarian in perspective. Or, resources for parents more generally might not include the distinctive experiences of fathers. At the same time, resources for contemplative practices can seem irrelevant from the perspective of busy parents who find moments of quiet few and far between.
The goal of this project would be to help spread healthier conceptions of masculinity and fatherhood. At the same time it would be a resource for fathers to see fatherhood as a spiritual practice. The hope would also be that this work might contribute to the healing of father wounds that might hold people back from the Church or intimacy with God.