This is not Father’s Day, but the parable of The Prodigal Son is as much about the prodigal’s father as it is about the prodigal himself. It reminds me of a Father’s Day gift booklet I saw once that was on the theme “A Father’s Love.” On one of the first pages, it said, “A father’s love makes us feel so safe and secure ....”

            No doubt all responsible fathers hope that their love for their children does help their kids feel so secure that their young lives are not burdened by anxiety over their safety. While mothers no doubt want that for their children as well, there is something about manhood that tends to make fathers feel personally responsible for the security and protection of their children. One way to generalize the difference is that when someone hurts one of our children, a mother’s first instinct is to comfort the child and a father’s first instinct is to confront the perpetrator.

            That’s why, when things happen to remind fathers of things they cannot protect their children from, it can be devastating. A little over a year ago, Roxana Saberi, a 32-year-old Iranian-American journalist, was arrested in Iran and charged with spying for the United States, a charge both she and the U.S. government soundly denied. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released after three months. But during the months she was in prison, her father went to Iran to seek her release and vowed to not leave until that happened. When he talked to the America press he spoke of how worried he was about her, saying that he feared she had become suicidal. He looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Clearly, he was deeply anxious about his daughter’s well-being.

The real fear factor

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