The Manly Art of Fatherhood continued

Hey Dads,
I would like to make it clear that when I speak fatherhood being a manly art, I am not talking about male dominance. I firmly believe that raising children is a team effort that requires a father and a mother of which neither is more important then the other. This is part of what makes attachment parenting is all about, learning not only to understand my children, but also my spouse and myself as well. However this is only part of what my understanding about the manly art of fatherhood is all about.
In thinking about what to say on this subject I have found that I have had a hard time defining exactly what it means to be a man in our world today, simply because there are too many definitions. What finally brought some clarity to my thinking was an article written by a woman whose family had created a right of passage for girls in their family; it effectively let girls become women, and recognized them as such in a safe and loving fashion. The article made me realize that over the centuries people have gotten away from celebrating the change from child to adult. Instead the journey from child to adult has become a long process with no definable beginning or end, one day boys are supposed to wake up and be adult men, and don’t have a clue what that means, except the Hollywood version which is not true to life.
As a man and a new father I am learning more about myself and my children every single day. This is why I have been working to learn gentle discipline, in order to understand my children and myself. This will not be the last post on this subject, but I will leave this one final thought. My father-in-law gave me a quote from Ephesians in the Bible that has given me a great deal to think about.
“Wives submit to your husbands, and husbands love your wives the way Christ loved the church.” Then he went on to explain the meanings of this passage, Christ gave his life for the church. We as husbands and fathers are too love our families the same way, willing to give our lives for our families; this is the highest form of love that we can show them. Is this not a true definition of what it means to be a father?

A Fellow Father