What are earthly fathers for, exactly?

By Richard Kannwischer, Op-ed contributor Sunday, June 07, 2026

Father's Day is a complicated holiday.

For some, it is a day of gratitude and celebration. For others, it carries disappointment, grief, or unanswered questions. Some were blessed with fathers who showed up faithfully. But many have only known absence, distance or loss. Yet the very complexity of the day points to something important: fathers’ matter.

We know this, even when our culture seems uncertain about why. Conversations about fatherhood tend to focus on what fathers do: provide, protect, teach, coach and support. Don’t get me wrong, those things matter but they don't quite get to the heart of it. The deeper question is what are fathers for?

One of the oldest statements of Christian faith begins with a remarkable description of God: “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” Notice the pairing. It’s not simply Father or simply Almighty. Father Almighty. Strength and tenderness held together, authority alongside affection. The Christian faith begins with the conviction that behind the universe stands neither an impersonal force nor a distant ruler.

That conviction shaped everything Jesus taught. When he spoke about God, He consistently described Him as a Father who welcomes, restores, provides and delights in His children. When His disciples asked how to pray, he didn't begin with religious technique. He taught them to begin with two words: “Our Father.”

Perhaps nowhere is this vision more vividly displayed than in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32). After wasting his inheritance and squandering his life, the boy trudges home expecting judgment. Instead, he is met by a father who runs down the road to embrace him. The story turns not on the son's failure but on the father's love. Before there is correction, there is welcome. Before any discussion of what went wrong, there is the reassurance that the son still belongs.

That may be the greatest gift any father can give.

Years ago, I heard the story of a little girl named Addie who was adopted from Haiti after losing her parents. On her first night with her new family, a feast was prepared in her honor. But as the meal went on, she grew quiet and withdrawn. Her new parents eventually understood what was happening. In the world Addie had known, abundance was temporary; a feast today often meant hunger tomorrow.

So, they took her into the kitchen and opened every cabinet door. They showed her the refrigerator, the pantry, the shelves stocked with food. Then they knelt down beside her and said: “You’re home, part of this family and you will never go hungry again.”

At its best, fatherhood says something like that. Beneath all the guidance, discipline and sacrifice, there is a deeper message being communicated: You belong here, you are wanted and there is a place for you at this table.

That message may be especially needed right now. We live in an age that is remarkably connected and yet profoundly lonely. Many people carry a quiet uncertainty about who they are and where they fit. We spend enormous energy trying to prove ourselves, establish ourselves and earn our place in the world. But one of the deepest human needs is not achievement, it's belonging. We long to know that we are loved apart from our performance.

This is where fatherhood reflects something sacred. A good father helps a child understand that identity is received before it is achieved. Long before a son earns a degree or builds a family of his own, he is already a son. Long before a daughter has proven herself to anyone, she is already cherished. Healthy fathers remind their children that their value doesn't begin with what they do. It begins with whose they are.

The apostle Paul used the language of adoption to describe the Christian life. Through Christ, he writes, we are welcomed into God's family as sons and daughters and made heirs of everything that belongs to him. Adoption is more than a legal transaction; it is the declaration that we have a home, a family and a future.

Maybe that's why Father's Day still matters. At its best, it points us toward one of humanity's deepest longings: that we aren’t alone, that we belong and we are loved. No earthly father embodies those truths perfectly. Every one of them falls short in some way. But faithful fathers give us glimpses of something greater. They give us reminders, however imperfect, of God whose love never fails, whose welcome never ends, and whose house always has room for one more.

And that is worth celebrating.