Fighting Fathers

Imagine this:

You were adopted by a loving man. We'll call him Bazyli. This man has not one evil bone in his body and no secret vices. This man has no gross attraction to you or your body but found you, took you home, cleaned you up, and submitted the paperwork for you to legally be adopted by him. The process was successful and the best move to ensure you grow up strong and well-raised.

Enter your bio dad. Sort of.

We will call him, Traveil. So, this man is referred to as your biological father. Why? Because when tested, you had 99% similarities. He lies. No one had to teach you how. You lie to stay out of trouble, you lie to get others into trouble, you lie to watch what happens, you lie because you can, you lie even to yourself. He steals, you do so every time you go to the store with Bazyli (who promptly puts the item back and corrects you with love). He murders, though every death seems to be at the fault of the person themselves or things, "coming back to them." His facial expressions of pride or disdain, you have on your face or carry within yourself as if it were a confident air of fortune.

Other things about this "Traveil"
He enjoys fear mongering through physical, mental or emotional uses, he puts people against each other just to disrupt the peace of the area, he exacts his anger and wrath upon any and every one that surrounds him because of his own issues with himself and anger at Bazyli. He takes as much as he can get without care for those he claims to take care of. He delights in the deaths of all life, whether the person has walked on the earth for years or hasn't had a chance to take their first breath. He delights in tricking people into agreeing with him, and then watching them have to deal with the consequences. He likes to trap others in situations to blackmail them or keep them under his thumb. And most of all, he strives with every fiber of his being to make you doubt anything you know about Bazyli. Whether it's that he actually loves you, will continue to love you despite what you've done, loved you from the beginning, has no ulterior motive to loving you besides being a proud father of you, OR that you're not good enough to be adopted, not "really" included in his list of children, that you'll be forgotten in the end, that you don't deserve the goodness of the adoption, that Bazyli is the reason why (insert dislikable thing here).

The fight
Here's the dilemma. You are happily living in the custody of Bazyli, growing big and strong, and respectful-- caring about others, the environment, your own things.... thankful for gifts and food and willing to work your chores just because you wanna help out (your dad has a tendency to adopt a lot of children). And this isn't because you HAVE to. You WANT to. why? Because your dad's a pretty good Dad. I mean, sure you can't have candy whenever you want and have to wait for him to buy you the car since you just turned (insert next age here)--he does stuff like that--but patience is a good thing. It keeps you at peace when the bank line is too long or the lights go out, or you have to watch the kids while he does a few errands. And you can't just blatantly disagree with him in public but you can always talk about it with him in private and get an answer--either from the note he wrote for you that morning before work or before the night shift, or with a phone call in the middle of the day. And you HAVE to take punishment for disobeying. If he said no steak tonight, no steak (but he always ends up taking us out for steak on the weekends if we ask). And if Bazyli says, "Don't do it," you don't do it, cause if you did it's almost always a bad outcome. I mean, this one time, Traveil was doing commercials and said, "Don't believe me, and your dad will have you doing chores for months" and I didn't ask Bazyli about it-- I was an idiot and listened to him. You know what happened? Worse than chores for a month-- I got in trouble because I had started feeling like the chores were a punishment even though I used to not mind it, and then I started doubting when Bazyli told me he was getting me a gift for working so hard because I thought I didn't deserve it. I hadn't been in the right attitude. So, When Bazyli offered to help me wash dishes that night, i hesitated. But we washed dishes.

"So, what's on your mind?"
"Huh?"
"Hun, I can tell when you're thinking too hard and when you're keeping something from me.... are you afraid of what I might say?"
No lie. Tears started pouring from my face. I started bawling and just put my head down. My father Bazyli waited, then hugged me.

It was the best feeling of relief. I can tell you that much.

When I told him about the phone calls and commercials and everything Traveil had said, he got angry, but not at me. At Traveil. He knew first-hand the pressure of being pulled in two directions at once. Who would have thought? But he said, "to tell you the truth, I don't know what it feels like to believe Traveil's lies. I did feel, for a moment, that disruption of peace and thought about what would happen if I believed what he said. I figured out that Traveil is just trying to do what I do-- make something be that doesn't exist yet.
You know I create things for a living, and a lot of people are jealous of that and the fame I've gotten because of it. So Traveil and his friends actually spend their lives trying to make mine a living...let's just say, very bad. And so, when I realized that he cannot create like I can, I know that he was spouting lies so that I would believe them and make them true. This is how he was going to try to get my position at the job-- he was going to lie and when I did exactly what he suggested, I would suddenly be bowing to him, making him seem like he was the creator of everything I've accomplished..... I'm sorry that you have to deal with it because he's given up on trying to get me to fall on equal terms....
Do you know he's actually made it a mission of his to steal MY children from me? from ME?"

I was aghast. I thought everyone loved Bazyli.

"Yes, he used to be on my team, until he got prideful and jealous... since he couldn't deserve my position he aimed to take it by force. Since he can't do that through the wars he's got going on at work, he's aimed to get my children. It's irksome... but I don't want you to worry about him, alright? Don't worry about anyone stealing or convincing your brothers and sisters, just tell me and I'll deal with him."

I decided that day, to trust my father.

As a child of Bazyli
Many things happen in life just because it is life. Many things happen in life because Traveil convinced others to believe one of his lies. Many good things happen because Bazyli taught you what to do and say as you grew up. Sometimes, we forget Bazyli's standards and don't do chores or take something from the store, or even forget that Traveil really wants us to believe we don't deserve Bazyli so we'd somehow lash out at him the way he wants to. These things, as a child, deserve punishment, honestly. But Bazyli is kind and a good father who forgives us readily after such punishment--and like a good father expects us not to go around doing this thing again.

The crazy part
Traveil is taking my father to court. He wants to do three things: take my brothers and sisters by any means necessary (kidnap, trap, trick, or have them leave of their own volition), kill them (literally end their lives or at least have them live so low in depression that he can easily manipulate them), or destroy any ties they have or can possibly have with Bazyli.
The court is interviewing each of us, you, me, our other brothers and sisters that live here. They care about our answers and will hold us accountable to our decisions and whether or not we believe the lies Traveil has spread or what's really true about ourselves and Bazyli.
We all know the story, but you know and I know a few of our brothers and sisters have already decided to leave Bazyli and live with Traveil or worse-- to actively work against our father and convince us that our father is a hypocrite or a liar instead of Traveil.
What's really funny is that Bazyli really is our father. Like, he's our bio dad. Traveil had tricked our older siblings into leaving to live with him and Bazyli had already fought and knocked the man slam out. Bazyli took everyone who wanted to go with him and always leaves the lights on and the doors unlocked for anyone else who wants to come home.

This is why we go to this house every day and why we're expected to still behave ourselves. This is why we write, create, draw, invite, help others get out of debt, help others get out of depression, practice self-control and teach others to do the same.... We're trying desperately to bring our brothers and sisters back home....if they'd only believe.



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This is a work of fiction entirely inspired by the gospel story. It was reimagined as if a man was taking another to court to gain custody over his children. If anything in the story seems to match your personal life, perhaps Jesus is telling you something? We love you, please come home.
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If this story has impacted you in any way that you desire to return home to Jesus, you need only to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that he has risen from the dead.
If any part of this does not sit well with you, please consult a bible-based church or a well-versed Christian.
If you cannot find one, ask God and one will be provided for you.
He may answer by giving you direct word from his bible, a person you may or may not like being around you or in your midst, or any other way.
Do know, however, once you ask, the enemy may also try to send you a reason (thought, action, or statement of a person) that you should not believe.