This blog is an interlude, in which I would like to reflect on my blog with the readers.
“The Sovereign lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught” (Is 50:4). These words have been an encouragement to me as I write my blogs. I write because God has called me to this task. It is hard work. I pray that my words are of spiritual help to men. A theme verse for this blog could be Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
I began blogging over five years ago. I never dreamed I would be doing this in my retirement years. I am both humbled and encouraged that men are helped by the content of this blog. I identify with Paul words when I reflect on my labor. “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weaknesses” (II Cor 11:30). I work on a blog, send it out, praying that it might minister to “the hungry, thirsty souls of men.” Just a few encouragements is enough to keep me going. Some of you who reading this blog are new comers. You might be wonder, “Who is this guy who writes?” “Why does he write?” A further question might be,”Why is the blog called “the wild man journey?” I want to answer these three questions in this blog.
First, I am a retired Lutheran Pastor (40 years), who has worked continually on the spiritual formation of my own masculine soul. My wife and I moved to our lake home in Northern Minnesota to run a retreat house ministry called “Canaan’s Rest.” I call Judy and I a “monk and a nun.” We welcome spiritual pilgrims to our place, while being involved in Evangelical Free Church in town. From my post in the north woods, I sense this blog to be my primary ministry. So be assured there is much prayer and earnest labor with each post. It is a calling not a choice. Some days involve spiritual warfare and nagging doubt.
Secondly, I write because of a life long burden to help men. This began in my second church back in 1976. The work evolved over the years as I matured and learned to give soul care to men. I have found significant healing for my own soul over the years. My particular “spiritual gift mix” is suited to soul care, that is, “going from the mind into soul” and discerning what God is doing in the soul of a man. It is the work of spiritual direction; helping men on the “inner journey.” As an ENFJ on the Myers-Briggs I am highly motivated to help men with the healing of their wounded and confused souls.
Thirdly, this blog is entitled “The Wild Man Journey.” A wild man is some one who is moving off of the “default mode” of being in control, attempting by personal spiritual improvement projects to be good enough, to being willing to descent into the soul, to find his true self and a passion to live for God. Augustine said it well, “Let me know thee, O God and myself, that is all.” He has tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Men who continue on this journey with this blog can be described as”soulful men” who desire to be fully alive, fully awake, and fully human. I firmly believe that the contemplative dimension of the journey is a missing, vital ingredient for men in our day.
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