Theologian and Futurist Leonard Sweet (also here) tweeted the following two observations on Sunday:
# Who will be fathers to the fatherless? 40% of children who live in fatherless households haven’t seen their father in at least a year
# In Hebrew Scriptures, God is addressed as "Father" only 11 times. In New Testament, Jesus himself so addressed God as "Father" 107 times.
During his campaign for President, Barack Obama stressed his desire to see men step up to the plate and take seriously their responsibilities. I had a great conversation with my dad last night. He was thrilled with his gift from the Princess Bride and me: a miniature branding iron with his intial as the 'brand' that he could use to mark his steaks cooked on the grill and a gift of a few Omaha Steaks to practice branding. But he was more happy with what I wrote in the card, to wit, that I was proud to bear his 'brand.' By 'brand' I mean not just his name, but also his influence, teaching, and example. All of these have shaped who I am today, and I pray that I bear that brand faithfully.
But, being the geek that I am, I got to thinking about geek fathers that I am acquainted with over the net. As the Princess Bride and I do not have any geeklings of our own, I am forced to live vicariously through the posts of others.
Steve Nibblelink regularly posts about his family, and what he writes reveals him to be very loving, patient and committed not just to his children, but also to their mother. He is obviously in love with his wife, and desperately wants to be there for her during her days of trials, and he has raised three very knowledgeable, media-savvy geeklings, one of which he has seen graduate high school and make her way to boot camp.
Jess Nevins
ratmmjess, annotator of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel and author of books on Victorian and pulp-era fiction, often takes many of his posts on Live Journal and Facebook and dedicates them to his son, Henry. He is obviously thrilled to be a father, and quite proud of his bouncy baby boy.
Derek Webb, a fellow pastor and geek I met via the Christian Gamers Guild just welcomed a new baby to his family. I followed his Twitter postings leading up to the birth of his child and was moved by the depth of concern that all would be well, even as this was his second child and one might think the novelty had worn off. I can attest that it had not. His tweets glowed with the fascination and apprehension inherent in bringing a new life into this world.
Kenneth Newquist is what I would consider another great example of a geek father. He regularly reads to his kids and is willing to watch movies with them. But he also is willing to be up at 3:00 a.m. after his son has a bad dream. Together, they watch Cars until the little one is secure enough once again to enter dreamland. Ken isn't afraid of doing the dirty work that comes with the job. IN fact, though I've never seen him say so directly, I suspect he loves it, because its obvious he loves his kids.
There is a lot of evidence of and resources for geek dads all over the internet. A Goggle Search pulls 579,000 hits on the phrase 'Geek Fathers.' There is a blog available that covers topics of interest to geek fathers. And there is another blog entry that I have found to be very helpful: Ten Reasons Geeks Make Great Dads.
I resonate deeply with two of the posts points. First of all, as fathers, it is important for us to truly love our children's mothers. I've heard it said many times, and I believe it to be true, that deep down kids desperately want to know that Mom and Dad (as a couple) are all right. They want them to be together for ever, because kids want to have that strong, profound and committed permanence in their world. Speaking for myself, I have no interest in the single life at all any more. I love my wife, and I don't plan on doing something stupid, like screwing up my marriage. I don't think I'm unique in the geek world, and I think that makes for great families.
The other thing I agree with that makes a geek a great dad is the willingness to play with your kids. Yes, even silly games. Trust me, they will remember the times you played laser tag ( to use the blog post's example) more than they will the nice things you bought them on an overachieving workaholic's salary.
My dad is not a geek. But one of the things I really love about him is that even if he didn't always get the stuff I enjoyed (he fell asleep during Star Wars fer cryin' out loud!), he gave me the freedom to enjoy it without being judged. Oh, and he was also tickled to tell me that my niece called to tell him that she and her husband are expecting their firstborn, a chance for him to be a great-grandpa!
Love ya Dad!
And to all geek dads out there, don't make me regret what I've written!