In moments of uncertainty, the Father offers stability and strength, protecting and guiding those in his care. The Father embodies responsibility, compassion, and a strong moral compass.
When the shadow is engaged, the Father may become overprotective or authoritarian, unable to trust others to grow on their own.
Adam Bucko is a priest and co-founder of the Center for Spiritual Imagination, known for his work with homeless youth and advocating for contemplative spirituality in action. His approach blends inner life with social justice, protecting and nurturing those in need.
"What is contemplative prayer about? It's about putting whatever we know about God and about the world to the side. It's about being present to the pain and the joy in us and around us and bearing witness to that. It is about allowing ourselves to fall apart and get shattered as a result of the pain and the joy that we are feeling. So that's what I started doing. I started approaching every person like that, taking out all the professional buffer behind which I could hide. In most cases it was bearing witness to their pain and helping them to hold that pain. Those experiences of accompanying homeless youth turned into experiences of falling apart, of being broken into pieces, being shattered. What I started discovering is that when we consent to that shattering, we realise that underneath it all there is this presence that I call God that is longing to flow into our situations, begin to pick up the broken pieces from the floor and begin to reassemble them. Our wounds literally become gifts." – Adam Bucko
Your faith journey involves protecting and nurturing others. Compassion and responsibility will guide you in offering support to those in your care.