The fatherly heart is so important that we must all learn to embody it, whether male or female, young or old, parents or grandparents . . . a fatherly heart brings hope, promise and possibility into one’s life, while the lack of a fatherly heart often brings hopelessness and despair and the violence that follows.
A fatherly heart gives us wings, providing us with ambition, empowerment, and strength. The fatherly heart also provides boundaries and contains us, grounding us like the Green Man. A good father encourages personal and individual responsibility. A fatherly heart does not foster dependency or co-dependency but healthy individuality.
An authentic fatherly heart is in love with life, and is a nourisher and supporter of (this love of life) . . .
An authentic father is a caretaker for Mother Earth, working to make sure her creatures, soil, water, air and forests are healthy. A fatherly heart goes out of its way to foster mutual communication within a family and a community: a communication that flows both ways, listening and speaking, teaching and learning . . .
~ Matthew Fox, from The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
Art: Margarita Sikorskaia