This week’s episode in honor of Father’s Day! This week Dallas takes a look at the relationship between All Might, from My Hero Academia, and Izuku. There’s something exceptional that takes place in the 2nd episode. That something is something authoritative and fatherly. What is it? How do Fathers operate in it? Check out this week’s episode and find out!
My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) is a fun anime about a world where many people are born with a “quirk” that gives them some sort of powers. In this world, you can honestly go to school to become a professional Hero. In this series, you meet a young boy named Izuku Midoriya who wants nothing more than to become a professional hero much like his idol, All Might. However, Izuku has one issue; he wasn’t born with a quirk. He doesn’t have what it takes to become what he’s always dreamed of. Growing up, he’s been told by many people over and over again; you simply don’t have what it takes. The most heartbreaking part of it is all is that he was even told by All Might himself that he would never make it as a hero.
Something happens though. The very day that All Might shoots his dreams down, he acts in a very heroic manner that takes All Might by surprise. All Might has been struggling with his health, and he was an in a tight spot, but when he saw Izuku act quickly to save a friend, he was inspired. He saw something in the kid that he himself had missed. Later he finds Izuku and says something that honestly, made me cry. He spoke life into him; he spoke something that only a father could do; he gave this boy an identity. What did he say?
“Young man, you too can become a hero.”
We live in a world where we suffer from a bad case of fatherlessness. As a result, we have people seeking identity in all kind of things. Amid their search, they’ve been told lies about who they are and aren’t. Please note that this is not a devotional that speaks ill of single mothers, but rather one that speaks to the need for Men to stand in the gap for their own kids and for those who don’t have a father. I, Dallas, struggled with my own identity for many years. However, when men in the church stood in the gap for me, surrounded me and encouraged me, I found peace.
When we see men standing in the gap, and children humbling themselves, we will see a change in culture. Malachi 4:6 is a prophetic passage speaking about the coming of John the Baptist, but it also speaks to a very real aspect.
“And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Malachi 4:6
If we see this happen, then we will see healing take place in families, in culture, in our nations. This week we’d like to encourage you to do something. If you’re a father, continue to stand in the gap for your children. If you haven’t been there for them, then do something very hard. Own up to your mistakes, apologize, and walk the path of being a father. You’ve already missed so much that you can’t make up, but you can start today. If you’re a man in general, we ask that you look around for those who don’t have a dad. Be willing to step out and speak life and speak identity. You can’t replace their earthly fathers, but you can represent the heavenly one for them.