By Natalie J. Hale

Around Father’s Day I find myself thinking of the priesthood and just how interconnected it is with fatherhood.

In our thinking we may limit the priesthood, classifying it as something used for administrative Church work, but it is deeper and more powerful then even those wonderful uses. The priesthood is the “eternal power and authority of God.” (True To the Faith, p. 124.)

The Book of Mormon, Church history and the Bible contain accounts of worthy priesthood holders performing miracles, like Moses parting the Red Sea, or Ammon converting hundreds of Lamanites. But a simple statement, published officially by the Church in its booklet “True to the Faith” helps bring our view of all of these mighty and even seemingly abstract events into proper perspective.

It states, “The most important exercise of the priesthood takes place in the family.” (True To the Faith, p. 125.) The use of this power is the purpose of furthering God’s work and glory to “Bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)

The power used to create worlds also brings together families in an eternal bond that only personal unworthiness can break. Think of it, the simple workings of average families, like yours and mine, is where the proper use of priesthood is most important. Boyd K. Packer taught, “All other organizations of the Church aid you, the father, and your wife and family in achieving these eternal goals.” (Ensign, June 2002, p.12)

Righteous fathers are needed. However, in an era where the value of marriage and family is culturally and socially declining, perhaps many have lost their perspective on just how important fathers are.

A family conference confirmed this truth. “So completely has fatherhood lost its former cultural importance that many men and women now suppose that responsibility for family and children falls almost exclusively on mothers. But where can we find happy, wholesome family life without a responsible father at home? A raft of sociological studies have indeed ratified proverbial wisdom by clearly showing how a father in the home improves his children’s lives — economically, psychologically, and socially.” (Inese Slesere, “Putting FAMILY FIRST—in Latvia, in the World,” Family in America, Volume 19: Number 05)
The Church reiterated this truth in the 1973 pamphlet “Father, Consider Your Ways.” It stated, “Because a worthy priesthood leader is crucial to the Father’s plan for families the misuse of that power creates devastating results. The priesthood is not a tool that should be used to manipulate or badger others in any way or means, for the Lord has warned all priesthood holders that, ‘No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned’ (D&C 121: 41-42).”

Because the priesthood is God’s power on earth, it is to be used in His appointed way, “By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile.”

And abuse isn’t limited to physical inflictions.

I once saw a father was holding his young child in the hallway outside the chapel. He made the statement that his child was too old to nap all the time and too young for nursery. To this father, caring for his child during Church was a burden. What must that do to children’s feelings to hear their own fathers speak of them in that manner?

Fatherhood is a sacred calling. It is in the true perspective, “an apprenticeship for Godhood.”(Ibid, pg. 2) The previously mentioned pamphlet goes on to counsel fathers that you, “must plan your day as guided by the Spirit of the Lord, earnestly seeking your own welfare and the welfare of your family before other cares blind you to these first responsibilities.”(Ibid, pg. 9)

There is further counsel that fathers are always teachers. “Your family learns your ways, your beliefs, your heart, your ideas, your concerns.”

You teach your children by precept and example. And that example, like the father I saw who couldn’t wait for his child to be old enough for nursery, isn’t always a good one:

“At one time a young father acted somewhat unkindly to his wife. Three days later this same man saw his three-year-old daughter use his very words in acting unkindly to her mother. The man was sobered and came to ask himself this question, ‘Do I love my children and my family enough to repent, to change my life for their welfare?’” (ibid, pg. 11)

This Father’s Day, the understanding of the deep value of priesthood and its eternal connection to fatherhood resonates with me. It is the true power to assist in bringing to pass God’s endless work for His beloved sons and daughters.

Natalie Hale’s website is www.enlightenedhomemaker.com.