Introduction
In as much as the statement, ‘‘you can do more than your Father, but you cannot be greater than your Father‘‘ reads and sounds conundrum and philosophical friendly, it is one that makes a lot of sense and with valid moral lessons to be learned. Children’s father relationships cannot assume homogeneous characteristics. This brief writing seeks to demystify this statement so as to lead to a logical conclusion.
Definition of Terms
a) Child
In vocubulary.com defines the word child as a noun that states that is a human offspring son, or daughter of any age. To the contemporary all international human rights treaties apply to children, only the Convention explicitly elaborates on who is defined as a child. Article 1 defines the child as a human being who is below the age of 18 years (Grison and Ziba 2o22). This paper appreciates this
definition however it looks at the term beyong18 years. If your parents are over 90 years of age, and their son or daughter is over 70 years of age, they will still refer to him or her as their child.
b) Father
The etymology of the word father has roots in Latin ‘‘patr‘‘ which means father. This word has birthed many other words such as patron which means a father who supports and protects artists by funding their artistic endeavors ( membean 2022). The Hebrew word for father is ‘‘Av‘‘ (JPT, 2022). Other writers look at the Hebrew word for father as ‘‘Ab‘‘ (Lovik, 2016) This gives a sense of a protection
c) Greater
The term comes from the word Great and the basic understanding of the word has to do with the visible tangible size. However, in this context, this write-up will not abide by the literal meaning of the term instead it will subscribe to the figurative one Justifying the statement.
d) Irreversible Status.
From the definition above it is noticeable that there is a clear distinction between the status of the ather and that of the children. The father’s status by the virtue that he sired a child will never take the reverse. What can take the reverse is what psychologists call reverse parenting. The process of producing a child cannot be reversed, even natural science cannot conceive the idea and forget about executing it. What should quickly be pointed out here is that the child at the appropriate time could sire more children than the father however that will not make him take the place of the father.
e) Generation
Chronologically when you look at your family tree you can locate whichever generation you want however the closest generation is that of your father. After your father, you can now come in with respect to the sequence of time. This means it is not the child who was born first it is rather the father who was born first and this cannot be altered in its natural sense. If your father was able to sire you and locate you in what you can call a family tree who is superior. And here the word superior is carefully used to suggest that you cannot sire your father to continue the generation. Still, your father had to sire you to continue the generation.
Theological perspective.
From a theological perspective, the ancient Hebrew word father ‘‘Av‘‘ has the interpretation of strength and power. In Hebrew, this is concrete as compared to Greco Roman which is more of an abstract. This is why in the Old Testament on many occasions God comes out as a real protector who shields his children from harm. For example in psalm 23, David says ‘‘even though I go through the valley of death I shall fear no evil because the Lord is with me‘‘.This kind of virtue from God the father is very unique. We think of God as the Father of His people. This word presupposes relationships that connect one person who is the head or chief person to the other people by natural birth, adoption of national kinship.
Cultural
In most cultures and in this context if the reference can be made to the African culture and tradition there is a way roles and responsibilities are well stipulated. Everyone in the family has a given culturally acceptable role. Fathers had their roles and they were expected to exercise them well. It was only in their absence that this was and is delegated. What the tradition is in other words alluding
to is that you cannot be your father; instead, you can only assume his responsibilities.
Conclusion.
Sometimes the word great can be used in various senses such as to glorify something. This word can also give both qualitative and quantitative ideas. In terms of qualitative, there is that which your father has accumulated over time in terms of experience, and has seen that which most likely you have not seen. Even if you happen to see or experienced and benefited from them earlier than the time he did most of those things he saw or experienced them earlier than you. Who comes first? Is it the egg or the chicken? The parent comes first.
Sometimes we fail to see the real father in our fathers or our children fail to see and experience the real father that God intended in us because we have not been the fathers that we ought to be. This is why sometimes we make our children view God differently because it is not palatable for them to call God or view God as the father in correlation to their earthly father. If fathers can play their part and offer real love to their children the view will change. In as much as the person who provided the seed is your father, there are circumstances that equally qualify one as a father. For example, those who adopted children took over the father figure. This applies also to spiritual parents. While this write-up zeros down to fathers the same is true for the mothers though there are a few areas that are not similar. The concept still applies to them. A child can be fat, taller, intelligent, skilled, gifted, and even talented but that will never replace it with the father.
Reference
Lovik, C. (2016). Hebrew word study Father October 17. https: //WWW. Hebrew Word Study.com
https: //WWW.Vocubulary .com 2022
Geriso, L. & Ziba: v, 3rd Jan 2022. Monitoring state compliance with the UN convention on the rights
of a child. Pp 407-412.
https: //WWW.Jerusalem Prayer Team