of the house and family

Usually, my references to pop culture are part of long-winded ranting and raving on the decay of our culture and their antagonism toward God. Today's mention is not a rant because it is relevant only in its having spurred the thoughts.

Saw a movie on the flight home. Am not recommending this for general viewing as apparently, the non-plane version includes a lot of questionable content. What is not questionable is that the movie attempts to reinforce the point that career over family is never a good choice. There is a powerful scene or two that makes the point very clear.

Culture tells you that the choice should be easy; family should win every time. In reality, outside those cliches, it isn't easy. Those choices are not mutually exclusive, but overlapping. Sometimes the choice for family means choosing career. Fatherhood and husbandhood (I'm coining this word, I know) are all about sacrifice. And often, sacrificing self for the sake of provision is a necessary sacrifice. Now, working 120 hr weeks to get that senior attached to your VP on top of a six-figure income is not what I am talking about here. There's really no excuse for that, in my opinion. But bring this down to a man working two jobs to provide for a family of six, and that family over career question not so easy, is it?

Never boil down complexities such as the entirety of what a man would do for his family into cliche suggestions. Rarely does life neatly wrap itself up in dream sequences over 120 minutes.