“Father!”
It’s the word with which we refer to Hashem numerous times each day in all of our prayers, it being most descriptive of our relationship with Him.
However, there are several stages in a father-son relationship.
1) An older man will keep his parents updated regarding important developments in his life, however, he usually will be taking care of himself without their help; and the love for his parents, though it runs deep, is seldom displayed outwardly.
2) A middle aged man. He will typically involve his parents in his personal life more extensively and the younger his age the more involved his parents will usually be.
3) One who is still single and living with his parents. His dependence upon them is much more significant and the love in their relationship much more apparent.
4) A child. A child’s parents are intricately involved in every aspect of his life. He will share his secrets with them and is mostly dependent upon their love which will be on constant display.
5) An infant. All of the above cases do not compare to the relationship a mother has with her newborn child. A newborn child can’t survive even a short period of time without its mother. It is totally dependent upon her for its food, drink, and even the most minute details of its existence, all of which it can not take care of on its own.
This begs the question: When we refer to Hashem as our Father, what sort of parent child relationship are we referring to?
By opening our eyes to the true nature of our existence, the answer becomes obvious. We may run complex lives, build buildings and close business deals, but in truth can we survive for even a moment without the most complex miracles taking place? Each breath we take, science now knows, involves a more complex chain of events than sending a man to the moon. Only haughtiness can lead one to believe that his father-son relationship with Hashem is anything less than the reliance of an infant on its mother.
This is succinctly expressed by Dovid HaMelech:
Hashem! My heart was not haughty, nor were my eyes raised on high, and I did not pursue matters greater and more wondrous than I. I swear that I calmed and quieted my soul like a suckling on its mother; like a suckling was my soul with me. Yisroel, hope to the Lord from now to eternity. (Tehillim 131)
Other parts to this series: Inspiration in Bitachon
