{"id":1642,"date":"2021-09-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailydad.com\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2022-06-29T01:51:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T01:51:43","slug":"do-not-be-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailydad.com\/do-not-be-afraid\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Not Be Afraid"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a certain fear that strikes a parent when they hold their baby for the first time. The idea that this person might suffer, might feel pain that you can\u2019t stop? The thought of this person with the coordination and the brain of a small child running around the crazy world out there? It\u2019s gaspingly scary!<\/span><\/p>\n

Some parents respond to this by becoming paralyzed. Others by becoming tyrants\u2014thinking that control can protect their babies from harm, when of course we all know it more often sends them hurtling right toward it…voluntarily. Others emotionally check out, leaving it all to their partner or somebody else. Some run away. The best parents <\/span>embrace it.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Do you know what the most repeated phrase in the Bible is? It\u2019s \u201cBe not afraid.\u201d Over and over again these words appear. They\u2019re a warning from on high to \u201cBe strong and of good courage,\u201d as we hear in the book of Joshua, \u201cdo not be afraid nor be dismayed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A similar chord is struck in much of ancient Greek mythology. Some version of \u201cBe brave,\u201d \u201cHave courage,\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t be scared\u201d appears more than a dozen times in the <\/span>Odyssey<\/span><\/i>. It doesn’t matter which religion or philosophy or great mind you turn to, you will find <\/span>courage <\/span><\/i>in the same place the Stoics held it: at the<\/span> top of the list of virtues<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is impossible to be a good parent without courage. Remember Barack Obama\u2019s observation: \u201cWhat makes you a man is not the ability to have a child, but the courage to raise one. As fathers, we need to be involved in our children\u2019s lives not just when it\u2019s convenient or easy, and not just when they\u2019re doing well\u2014but when it\u2019s difficult and thankless, and they\u2019re struggling. That is when they need us most.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

None of this parenting stuff is easy. A lot of it is scary. But it is essential. And it matters whether you have the courage to step up and do it every day, for the rest of their lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not brave, why would your kids ever be?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a certain fear that strikes a parent when they hold their baby for the first time. The idea that this person might suffer, might feel pain that you can\u2019t stop? The thought of this person with the coordination and the brain of a small child running around the crazy world out there? 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