A while ago I preached on “everlasting Father” from Isaiah’s prophetic description of Jesus. One of the topics that i mention about fathers is the power they/we have… So often children’s engagement with reality is impacted by the father… Moreover, a child’s first and most intuitive belief in their own value is largely found in the father’s opinion.
It is so tough to connect certain things to reality without dad; it is tough to disconnect certain things from reality if dad connected them.
An example, put simply, if our father teaches us to hate something, it is hard to not hate it.  That doesn’t necessarily mean he taught verbally (though that too)… But he helped us connect the bad thoughts and ideas to something. Other father-men in our lives do the same… (How would sitting outside a principal’s office feel today for you as an adult?)
Do we connect dad to God (yes, we all do intuitively, I am convinced)? Then our intuitive (meaning what seems to come most naturally… We are not doomed to this, but I think it is the first, most primal, almost instinctive go-to, but we can choose to believe something and live according to something different.
But also, there are fathers who are joyful
Strong,
Gentle,
Wise,
Sacrificial…
I have one.
I think I am one.
Kind of like God…well, Imperfect, ok… Flawed, ok…. But still kind of like God.
Ready for the fun part?
I know I am.
This is the fun part…
I never want to leave any father or mother with such a heavy burden… I feel it too, so I don’t want that to be the whole story… The sad or scary part of this story.
As parents, and even as spiritual parents, that power is still there!
This can be power for good.
And I believe it was meant to be.
To me at a very personal level, the truth of all of this is wrapped up in one word… 
Butterfinger.
A few years ago I realized that I pretty much always choose a Butterfinger if I have a choice of candy bars.
But I had never wondered why. I just chose.
So, if you read my stuff much you know that I love to analyze myself on stuff like that, so I did.
And I realized I believe at a deep level that they were best.
Always choose the Butterfinger if you can, because they are the best.
How did I know they were best?
I’ll bet You know.
