The power of love

We want it all, everything we see, everywhere, anywhere, our desire knows no bounds. Yet that is what makes us so dangerous, that is what makes us so deadly, so noble, so dependable. We know no boundaries, we seek no finish line. Our pure goal is completion. We don't wait for it to come to us, we go out and we find it. The human heart sets no limits and the human spirit knows no perimeters. Beneath our shell of skin and bones stirs a force more powerful than we could ever imagine, more dangerous than we can fathom. It dwells in the depths, nurtured by our heart and our spirit, and stirred only through our selfless passion. 

This is the force that motivates us to work that extra job, to run that extra mile, or spend that extra hour helping someone else. In the big picture its the force that causes a man to disregard all aspects of selfish human nature and throw himself in harms way to protect another. This force isn't jealousy, it isn't anger or hatred, this force is love. A love for someone else that can only be expressed through our willingness to sacrifice a part of ourselves, our lives, in order to make them better. The most noble of examples that we find on a daily basis is in our parents. Their willingness to go the extra mile in the office and at home. However, parents like that are few and far between these days. Fathers have replaced fatherly advice and quality time with money. They have pawned off role modelling to actors and athletes, in order to pursue their own goals and dreams. 

So why have parents so eagerly spurned their parental duties? Is it easier putting in time at work, or at the gym, or at the nail salon, than to spend the time at home? Their is no better a way to each someone than through examples, but now we live in an age where parents say, "do as I say, not as I do." My time in the military has taught me that to be an effective leader you must never as someone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself. Because of that fact of leadership, much to my parents dismay, I got the latin quote, 'ductus exemplo' tattoed on my right side, meaning 'leadership by example.' My belief is that no matter what walk of life I am in, in my career, at home, leadership by example must be my motto. 

In a country controlled and guided by music and video (TV, youtube, movies, etc...) fathers have opted out of the hard talks, just as one might decide not to do the dishes one day, fathers have decided that they no longer want to mentor their kids through life. We live in a culture plagued by the adult industry, sex is casual at 15, and porn is the new sex ed for middle schoolers. Yet fathers and mothers continually shy away from the hard conversations, the awkward conversations, and the uncomfortable conversations. 

What happened to fathers being the head of the household? Not because we are men, but because every morning we wake up and claim that right. We claim that right through what we say and what we do. We claim that right because we spend more time on our knees asking for wisdom and guidance than we do on our feet. We claim that right because we are the last to go to bed and the first to get up, because every day we wage war on behalf of our families. Fathers are not the head of the household because we are better than women. Fathers are the head because they fight, they protect, they defend, and above all, they love. They love through their words, through their actions, and through their thoughts.