We Are Unfinished Men FbG ch2

"The deepest search in life, it seemed to me, the thing that in one way or another was central to all living was man's search to find a father, not merely the father of his flesh, not merely the lost father of his youth, but the image of a strength and wisdom external to his need and superior to his hunger, to which the belief and power of his own life could be united."

Tom Wolfe
"The Story of a Novel"

How true this quote can be for so many men. Just a little later, Eldredge points out that in Hebrews, God is about finishing his work in us. We are a work in progress and should take that into consideration as we walk the walk and fight the good fight.

Throughout this chapter, Eldredge uses the example of fathering found in the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" where Balian, the young man who has recently lost both his son and his wife, is told by a traveler that he is his real father and he wants his son, Balian, to join him. He wants to give him a purpose in life. In my own life, this calling is something I could experience. Maybe I have and I was just not able to recognize the words. But to be called to a great purpose, my purpose in life, is what I have been searching for these past many years.

My question is then, who is calling me? Is it God who will call me and I must listen for the voice that cannot be heard? Or will be a man of flesh and bone here in this world that will somehow pull me to action, pull me to be the warrior and to fight for something I believe in? I have a father of the flesh, and I love him and respect him for what he has done in his life as well as in mine. I have mentors who challenge me and push me places I couldn't go on my own. And I have a concept of a God who is supposed to transcend both of these and who will satisfy this deep, craving hunger that is present every day of my life. But as Eldredge says at the beginning of the chapter; perhaps the hardest thing is for us to believe from the deepest, darkest Jungian pools of our hearts that that I am the son of a kind, strong and engaged Father who is there for me in my journey.

So how do I cognitively believe in something that doesn't exist?