Among all the metaphors that Christian's use to describe God, "Father" is probably the most ubiquitous. "Shepherd" may be right up there, though. Because it's so common, churches spend a lot of time explaining that metaphor, and what it means to be a father. It's no wonder, then, that almost every sermon on the topic includes a clause that sounds something like this: "Now, you may not have had the best father in the world. Maybe yours was physically or verbally abusive; maybe he was just ...