Father UP!

Last week's Parenthood was filled with amazing stuff to think about. On the one hand there were religious issues that were fascinating and on the other we saw something we rarely see in pop culture, a father grabbing his role with authority.

Zeek Braverman is a man's man. He is a Viet Nam Vet, works on cars, gets his hands dirty, and loves sports. He's rough around the edges and a bit cranky. He is fully flawed. He is broken, especially as he traverses his relationship with his wife, Camille. Yet, he's constantly growing, changing, and maturing as a man. As we watch this family evolve we are starting to see Zeek acquiesce to his oldest son, Adam more and more. Adam is slowly taking the lead as family patriarch, and Zeek lets him. It's quite a beautiful thing to behold, and shockingly well written.

There are times though when Zeek pulls back on the rope and steps in as only a Dad can do. In this week's episode Zeek grabs the role as patriarch and steps into the spotlight in the way only he can do. Julia's (his daughter) marriage is falling apart. So Zeek finds Joel (her husband) and confronts him. He reminds him that he has entrusted Julia to Joel because he believed that Joel was a man worthy of Julia.

These are words that only a father can speak to the heart of another man.

Men need fathers. It is reality. We need fathers and we need them to speak into our very souls. We need brothers too, but we need fathers most of all. Zeek, in that moment, by taking hold of his identity and role of father spoke words of life to Joel that he needed to hear. He needed to hear from a father that he was a man and he was a man that was worthy of the woman to whom he was married. Joel needed the clarity of identity that only a father could bring him.

Zeek: Well, let me ask you something. What the hell are you doing?
Joel: What the hell am I doing? Well, I'm trying to figure things out, you know? Figuring things out.

We men have a lot to learn from Zeek. We need to learn to protect our daughters. We need to learn to fight for them. We also need to learn that we need to speak into the hearts of our sons words of identity and truth.

In that moment when the world is falling apart some times we need a father to look at us and say, "What the hell are you doing?"