Category: Brother Al (Page 48 of 68)

Bob Dylan was the  surprise winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.  According to the Swedish Academy, Dylan won,”for having created a new poetic expression within the great American song tradition.” In  ways I relate to Dylan.  We were both born in 1941.  He grow up in Northern Minnesota, where I am retired on the lake.  He had an influence on the youth movement of the early 70’s when I was a youth pastor.  Being part of “the Jesus Movement,” we had a revival among high school students in our Lutheran Church located in Edina, Minn.  “Blowing in the wind” was sung often,  along with such songs as “A bridge over troubled waters” (Simon and Garfunkel).  Intuitively we had a sense that Dylan was a “soulful” singer, speaking prophetically to the American soul.

Dylan, the poet, can be experienced as  a prophetic voice calling men to go beyond the surface to struggle with the deeper issues of life.  His songs can’t be reduced only to their verbal content.  You are forced to find spiritual meaning to  his songs.   While not a devoted fan, I came to maturity as a man, during Dylan’s rise to fame. Like many others I saw him as a spiritual poet.  Eugene Peterson notes, “a poet uses words not to explain something, and not to describe something, but to make something…….Poetry is not the language of objective explanation but the language of imagination….we do not have more information after we read a poem, we have more experience.”  That is how we experienced some of Dylan’s songs during the spiritual revival  in the early 70’s.  I applied many of his lyrics to biblical themes, that spoke to questioning teenagers.

A poet will use words to grab your imagination.  “Dylan is a profoundly spiritual poet, and his spirituality is profoundly shaped by the Christian Bible.” notes one observer of Dylan’s career.  He once said, “I don’t think I’ve been an agnostic.  I’ve always thought there’s a superior power, that this is not the real world and there’s a world to come.”  In 1980 he had a conversion experience in which he said, “Jesus put his hand on me.  It was a physical thing.”  This period resulted in two albums built around Christian imagery – “Slow Train Coming”  and “Saved.”

By the 2000’s Dylan’s lyrics, “begin to reflect less the influence of any one religion and more a seeking, mystic bent.”  In the final track on “Modern Times,” Dylan seems to reflect where all his spiritual wanderings have brought him.  “Ain’t talkin,’  just walkin’ / Through this weary world of woe / Heart burnin’, still yearnin’ / No one on earth would ever know / They say prayer has the power to heal.”   He did say once, “Being noticed can be a burden.  Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed.  So I disappear a lot.”  It seems he is just walking and not talking.

Back in the 60’s “Blowing in the Wind” was asking this question,  “How many roads must a man walk down /before you call him a man?”  Dylan’s answer was, “The answer, my friend, in blowin’ in the wind /The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”  Pope John Paul II at the 1997 World Eucharistic congress in Bologna, Columbia, before thousands of youth, referred to Dylan’s words by saying, “You asked me: How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man!  I answer you: Just one, only one.  It is the road of a man. This is Jesus Christ, who said I am the way.” Yes, that is the road we take to become a man.

Since this blog site is concerned about a  healthy  expression of masculinity, I want to weigh in on Donald Trump and “locker room talk.”  To start with, I am conflicted about voting for the best of two deeply flawed candidates.  I am saddened by religious leaders who seem to be giving Trump a pass on his “toxic” masculinity.  We hear things such as, “Trump’s not a Sunday school teacher, Trump’s a new King David or pagan deliverer Cyrus.  Trump is either a ‘baby Christian’ or the kind of tough strongman conservative Christian need since the Sermon on the Mount isn’t realistic enough for the 21st century.”

What is most disturbing is the coming  post election fall out.   One female columnist calls it, “the coming ‘sexism’ Tsunami.”  Mark my words, the path for men as humble, loving followers of Jesus, will be laden with new and vicious attacks from angry feminists, who have been collecting fresh ammunition from Mr. Trump’s  legacy as a “womanizer.” The response of some Christian leaders only adds fuel to the fire. With all the muster I can gather for this blog, I want to shout “character matters.”  America needs men of spiritual integrity who strive to model  moral purity.

Men, the Lord will not give us a pass on “locker room talk.” Jesus warns us,  “Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.  But don’t think you’re preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed.  Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body.  Those leering looks you think nobody notices – they also corrupt” (Matt. 5:27-8 -Message).  Our sexual passion and energy needs to be reserved for our wives only. “Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.  Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!  Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!  Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose – don’t ever quit taking delight in her body” (Prov 5:17-18 – Message).  Job is very blunt. ” I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes” (Job 31:1 – Message).

Here is some hard earned advise from someone who has sought to be a “one woman man” for over 50 years.   First,  admit to yourself and confess to other men that you are a man filled with sexual passion that needs to be channeled in a healthy spiritual manner.  It is everyman’s battle in our culture.   I have been a faithful husband for 51 years.  But have I struggled with my sexual fantasies? Yes.  Men, surrender your inner life to God, letting  light into secret places of our heart.   Secondly,  purpose to honor and cherish your wife. Take delight in her.  Work at not taking your marriage for granted.  Cherish her by showing in word and deed that she first among your priorities.  She is “Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh (Gen3:23).

Thirdly,  show your wife the utmost respect in public.  Be attentive to her.  Do little things like opening the door for her.  How you treat your wife in public, will send a profound message to women that you honor the opposite sex.  Never, never belittle your wife in public or in front of your children.  Fourthly, make a covenant with your eyes.  Never look with lust at another woman.  Do not flirt or entertain the advances of other woman.  Commit to be a “one woman man” in every relationship.

There is much more to say, but one more point.  Among other men, disavow locker room talk. Never objectify another women by your attitude, words or actions.  Be vigilant among other men.  Angry women who have been deeply hurt by other men are watching.

A “Quiet catastrophe” is what Nicholas Eberstadt in “Men Without Work”  calls the deterioration of work rates for American men.  “Almost one out of four men of prime working age (25-54) are not working.  Since 1948, the percentage of men aged 20 to 64 who aren’t working has doubled.  Fewer working-age men are working today than in 1930, in the heart of the Great Depression.”  Most of this decline has taken place since 1965.  Between 1965 and 2015, the share of working-men who are jobless more than doubled, from 10 percent to 22 percent.  This decline of men in the work force has gone unnoticed because men, “are invisible in public discourse in part because we have defined our social goal as getting more women to work.”  Yet between 1948 and 2015, the proportion of women between 25 to 64 in the workforce doubled for 34 percent to 70 percent, while men continued to retreat from the work place..

Even more significant is the fact that, “ever-greater numbers of working-age men simply have dropped out – some for a while and some forever – from the competition for jobs.  These men have established a new and alternative lifestyle to the age-old male quest for a paying job.”  Their choice is largely voluntary.  The hours that they are not working have been replaced almost one for one with leisure time.  Seventy-five percent of this new leisure time falls into one category: video games.   Even more disturbing they seem to be happy with their choices.  “Happiness surveys actually indicate that they are quite content compared to their peers.”  Not working does not seem to be a negative factor in their lives.

Derek Thompson has written, “The economy is not simply  leaving men behind.  It is leaving manliness behind. Machines are replacing the brawn that powered the 20th century economy, clearing way for work that requires a softer human touch.”  The future of work in America will be more biased against the traditional idea of manliness.  Herein lies the problem.  “The connections between work, marriage, fatherhood, and manhood,” observed Maggie Gallagher, “unleased enormous social energy.”  Being a husband and a father has traditionally reinforced masculine identity.  A good husband and father worked.  In this way masculinity was achieved and not given.  There was less thought given to dependence on government or charity.   This is now being called into question in our day.

Today masculinity is  seen as an liability unless it conforms to the idea that gender doesn’t matter.  But redefining of masculinity has not produced a generation of men who thrive in a genderless culture.   Rather many adult men are retreating to the world of video games where their aggressive impulses can be expressed and not questioned.  In this world there is neither risk nor reward..  It is the fury of “GamerGate.”  Here men can enter a fantasy world of rage free from the threat of feminism.

Men today are suffering from “genderphobia,” which sees the basic realities of gender and gender difference as a crime against women.   Work is being  redefined as genderless, assuming that much of male work is the source of unfair privilege.  Yet all though human history men have been the primary providers for their families.  The New Testament reminds men of this reality.  “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (I Tim. 5:8).  Paul warns of being idle in II Thess. 3:11-13, “We hear that some among you are idle.  They are not busy, they are busybodies.  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat…never tire of doing what is right.”

LaShawn Barber wrote an article for “World” magazine entitled “the war on men.”  She referenced a student gathering at Claremont College in California meeting to discuss masculinity.  The common consensus was that masculinity “is harmful both to those who express it and those affected by it.”  So, where does this leave the average male? An advertisement for the event said: “Masculinity can be extremely toxic to our mental health, both to the people who are pressured to perform it and the people who are inevitably influenced by it.”  So, it appears that men must live with a masculinity that is “toxic”…  I applauded Ms. Barber for her closing statement: “I hope men will push back against this anti-male tide, just as Christians have to push back against our diminishing freedom to live as Christians in all aspects of our lives.”

Toxic masculinity was also the topic at Duke University’s “Men’s Project.”  The goal of the project was for male students to “critique and analyze their own masculinity and toxic masculinities to create healthier ones.”  A nine-week course for “male-identified” students discussed such topics as male privilege, patriarchy, “the language of dominance,” rape culture, pornography, machismo, etc.  The student newspaper insisted the course was “not a reeducation camp being administered by an oppressed group in service of the feminization of American society.”  I have the sense that the young men and women in this course accept as fact that every man is “toxic” in his expression of masculinity.

I want to make a few comments on the word “toxic.” In a Google search, I found this definition of toxic: “containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation.”  Wow!  People seem to be saying that masculinity is harmful to society.  If so, I take strong exception to the word “toxic.”  Speaking biblically, I would say instead that all males are afflicted with a sin nature:  “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).  There’s no excuse for the gross, sinful behavior of men in our society.  But our sin nature can be redeemed, renewed in the image of Christ.

My advice to Christian men who have to deal with their so-called “toxic” masculinity is to get rid of it like some old, ill-fitting clothes: “You’re done with that old life.  It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire.  Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom made by the Creator, with his label on it” (Col. 3:9-10 – Message).  God gives us a new wardrobe that will be unique for each man, allowing him to live out of his masculine soul. God does the changing.  Our part is to choose to take off the old ill-fitting clothes.  This involves repentance, surrender, and letting go of the old familiar ways that might be toxic.

Men, I invite you to join me in the cultural battle to help restore a godly, masculine presence in society.  Yes, there is a toxic masculinity that has done much harm.  But God is raising up a whole new generation of godly men.  Through surrender to the lordship of Jesus, men are boldly, yet humbly, giving expression to a new expression of masculinity.  To this I am committed.  I take comfort in these words from Ps. 71:18, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

As I write my blogs each week, I try to visualize the men who are frequent readers.  Recently, I have been having some doubts concerning the perspective I express regarding  Christian men and masculinity.  From my point of view, there is a lot of confusion and even distortion about male and female roles in the Evangelical Movement. My aim is to  find a balanced approach.  I wonder if  part of the appeal of this blog is the fact that I not only speak to the “tough” side of the masculine, but also the “tender” side.  I think the combination of my being a “heart person” and a “truth teller” inspires me to call men to  walk boldly with Jesus,  having courage to embrace the truth,  but also to be willing to go “deep.”  Soulful men is what this blog is all about.

Based on my own masculine journey, along with what I discern regarding “the men’s movement,” in the church I  contend that much more needs to be said about the “masculine soul.”  I found these words from the prophet Jeremiah an encouragement. “Use words truly and well.  Don’t stoop to cheap whining.  Then, but only then, you’ll speak for me.  Let your words change them.  Don’t change your words to suit them.  I’ll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable” (Jer. 15:20-21  – Message).  By the grace of God, I hope to grow in my articulation which is aimed at men who desire to be soulful.

I have also found  identification  with Jeremiah when he says, “The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones.  I’m worn out trying to hold it in.  I can’t do it any longer” (Jer. 20:9 – Message).  There is a message I believe that has been formed in my heart.  But it is difficult for me to put it into words.  I struggle at times to come up with a blog that I think is relevant for men from my perspective.  I am now going on my sixth year.  Spiritual motivated as a “truth teller,” I am highly motivated to see that the truth of God’s words rightly applied to the lives of God’s people, especially men. This is why I write.

I can across a great quote from Mike Mason that speaks to my motivation for writing.  “Howling one’s head off may actually be a more mature and realistic response to reality than the elaborate social skills of many adults.  With the latter so frightfully focused on grinning and bearing their way through life, perhaps babies are the ones to whom God has entrusted the important work of doing the crying for the whole world… ..If our gospel is not one that will stand up to the prolonged test of having absolutely no circumstantial evidence of worldly success, then it is a gospel of straw.”

I write for men who want to break out of the cultural box of maleness and the shallow expectation of be a “niece Christian guy.”  The following  principles guide my thinking.  First, our affirmation comes from our heavenly Father.  Secondly, men surrendering control in order to listen to their souls.  Thirdly, helping men deal with their pain.  Fourthly, men knowing that their strength comes through their weakness. And finally  encouraging men to stay on the journey to greater wholeness in spite of the  cultural opposition to a biblical view of men and their roles in family, church and society.

In Genesis 28 we met Jacob running scared from his twin brother Esau, who hated him not only for swindling him out of his birthright but for stealing his blessing.  But Jacob was full of hope on his journey to find a wife.  Then Jacob had a dream the showed him that there was more to his life than fleeing from his brother and finding a wife.  He had taken a stone for a pillow and fell asleep.  Verse 28 tells us, “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”  Above it stood the Lord.  Interestingly, Jesus refers to this dream in John 1: 51, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

The image of “Jacob’s Ladder” visualizes a vital principle for our spiritual life – descending  before we can ascend.  Henri Nouwen calls it “downward mobility.” We ascend to God by first descend into the reality of who we are.  From the spiritual tradition we are exhorted to, “climb down, into our own passions that lead us to God.”  Another adds, “Dive away from sin into yourself, then you will find steps on which you can climb up.”    We can not practice “spiritual by-passing.”

I prefer “spiritual flight,” ascending to God, living on the mountain top, rather then having to  descend into valleys of my life, where I hide from God.  In AA they say, “The more secrets a person keep inside, the sicker he becomes.”  I can easily believe the illusions created in my mind and live with the unreality I picture in my imagination.  This is not reality. It is simply posing.  I don’t know myself, nor do other know the real me.   I can use my “spiritual improvement projects” to actually protect myself from God. I John 1:8 warns us, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth does is not in us.”

Descending does not mean we fix, search, or pry, getting caught up in “the disease of introspection” (Payne), but rather we  listen to and awaken to what our life is telling us.  Our soul thrives on reality,  not illusion.   I spent many years avoiding listening to what my soul had to say to me, not wanting to face my dark side.  It was difficult to learn the practice of “tasting my sin,” while sitting in the ashes of my fallen state.  But that is reality.  Here a few helpful hints learned the hard way by a man who desires to be a soulful guy, that is, awake to my soul even when it is painful.

First, when you pay attention to your soul, you discover that Jesus’ presence is at the deepest place in your soul.  Paul calls it a mystery, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).  Please remember this – God’s presence is in you, “incarnational reality” (Payne).  When you are attentive and listen, you meet God at the center, loving you.  As you descend into this love you can accept the good, bad and ugly about yourself. Secondly, the light of God’s presence, helps in the acceptance of your hidden shadow side.  We all need to be loved in our vulnerability and shame.  Thirdly, we can accept the tension of not having arrived spiritually.  We are a work in progress.  We are  “beloved sinner” on a journey of inner transformation.  So men, don’t be afraid of descending.  It is the necessary first step in ascending to God.

Thirdly,

With football season upon us, there is a whole new slate of TV ads that are directed at men.  There have been several dealing with the issue of men and their conversational style.  The one I recall (I forgot sponsor) featured  a young man probably in his 30’s picking up his dad to go somewhere  in the car.  The son extends a rather awkward greeting to the dad.  The dad grunts a response. This is followed by uncomfortable silence.  The son then begins to talk about the football game.  That was the opening to a highly energized conversation between father and son.  Men, how do you relate to this ad.  Here are some of my thoughts.

First, the awareness that personal conversation is a problem for men. TV ads offer no solution. They only grab the attention of men.  Corporations spend their advertising revenue to get hooks into men.  But how do men react?  Usually by making a joke of an obvious problem.  What upsets me is the fact that men’s failures  are portrayed by some advertising genius,  while  men hide their inner loneliness.  This ad lays bear the relational pain between dads and sons.   The masculine is demeaned for profit.  Yes, men have a hard time with intimate conversation, but let’s not advertise the problem.

Second, the son trying to make conversation with his dad.  This  bothered me for several reasons.  First of all, it touches a relational nerve in my story with my father.  I tried for many years to find my father’s heart.  Can you and your Father talk heart to heart? Secondly, it should not be the son, but rather the father who is trying to go below the surface.  I am reminded of Malachi 4:6, “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”  Men, if you are a father it is your responsibility to initiate heart-felt conversation with your son.  He needs the hear your male voice, speaking to his heart from your heart, even if your son is a grown man. Many dads are simply a mystery to their sons because there is little personal conversation.

Thirdly, men and safe topics.   Where I live, in the northwoods of Minnesota, the safe topics include, fishing, hunting, the weather, Viking football and fixing things.  Since I like sports, I try to keep up on sports news, partly because I can then relate conversationally with men in my church and community.  Right now the Vikings are a hot topic.  I stay away from politics – too many raw opinions.  After that it is “God talk.”  This narrows the field of conversation.  Finally, there is “soul talk.  This includes our  heart relationship with God and our relationship with wife and family.  Few men are willing to go “down” into this area.  How about you?

Fourthly, this brings me to the need for each man to have an “AA shaped” relationship with a group or an individual.  I have said it before and I will say it again, men need to be with each other to learn the language and manner in which share their pain and relational wounds.  There is a “male mode of feeling” that can be only learned with a group of other guys.  Here men are honest, admitting to  lives that are unmanageable, not having  the ability to change.  Change comes when, “We make a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.”  Men, nothing keeps me more humble then struggles in  relationships.

Back in May, John Koessler had an article in Christianity today, entitled “The Gift of Disillusionment.”  He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  “Certainly, serious Christians who are put in a community for the first time will often bring with them a very definite image of what Christian communal life should be, and they will be anxious to realize it….But God’s grace quickly frustrates all such dreams.  A great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and if we are fortunate, with ourselves is bound to overwhelm us, as surely as God desires to lead us to an understanding of Christian community.”

Men, how have you dealt with  disillusionment in your  church life.  Many men have given up on church, but not Jesus.  I spent 40 years as a parish pastor and now the last seven years as a laymen.  “Church people” can be hurtful, mean and yes,  down right evil.  I used to say, “Look around, it is not going to get any better then this.”  Who you see in church on any given Sunday are the folks that have been led to your church.  Men, we don’t choose who will be your  brothers and sisters in Christ.  God will use some member as “sand paper” to deal with your rough edges.

Two principles  helped me survive  many relational “mine fields” and “broadsides” that suddenly popped up in church life.  First, the determination of being a servant to others.  This implies seeing  myself as serving from “below.”  “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  I intentionally try to put others above myself.  The second principle  embodied these words from Paul,  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Phil 2:3).  I had to continually surrender my ego,  my personal rights,  especially when I wanted to defend myself.

Here are a couple of things I learned the hard way.   First,  church people will disappoint you.  Give up your high expectations of “church people.” I guarantee you will be deeply disappointed.  This is a hard pill to swallow if you have high ideals  for the church.  There will be times when church members will do what can only be thought of as evil.  My advice is to accept the members of your church for who they are, sinner just like you.

Secondly, learn to live a lifestyle of forgiveness.  I cannot stress this enough. There were times when I was angry with members of the church.  On occasion I would have to ask forgiveness for my attitude.  But that did not end the cycle of anger in my heart.  I had to confess my anger often to my wife, who became my confessor.  I must warn you, if you don’t forgive, it will begin to tear at the very fabric of your soul.  You will become deeply disillusioned with the church.  Some leave with a “bitter spirit.”  Hebrews warns us, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Heb. 12:15). A bitter, critical spirit will destroy a church.

One more important piece of advise for men.  The spiritual health of your church depends on the attitude of the men.  Above all, don’t develop a demanding, negative and critical attitude toward the leadership and other  members of your church.  Be a man of God!!  You might have to endure some gossip and slander.  But take your stand in love and humility. You could save your church.

The “buffered self” is the name give  by philosopher Charles Taylor to describe an individual  in our culture who is isolated from any  transcendent reality, that is, God ‘s presence.   Taylor observes that, prior to 1500, almost everyone believed in God, understanding life to be meaningless without God.  It was an “enchanted” world in which vulnerable souls were open to God.  Taylor refers to those knowingly impacted by God as “porous” souls. In  the enchanted premodern social imaginary, the self was open and susceptible to the presence of God..

But the  modern “buffered self” is isolate and enclosed, wanting to protect self from any influence of transcendence.  In modern social imaginary, the self is insulated within the mind, no longer vulnerable to the movements of God’s grace..   It isn’t enough to simply divest the world of spirits and demons, but the self needs to be buffered and protected from transcendence.   There is  a kind of “lowering of the bar” when it came to the requirements of living life well without reference to God.  In our day that means you are free to be a  “none” (no belief).  Could it be that men today are buffering themselves not only from God but also from the negative characterizations of men in our society? How “porous” is your masculine soul?

It is quite natural for men to live simply in their heads; in what Richard Rohr calls our “control tower.”  There is the ever present danger of becoming turned in on ourselves, becoming a self-referencing person.   We are, “like a thin shaving of wood, curling up around the void of his inner nothingness, cut off alike from the cosmos and the creator of all things” (Theophan the Recluse). The buffered self lives in darkness with the lights out.  “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness.  They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God” (John 3:19-20 – Message).  Here are some of the consequences of this crisis..

First, the buffered  self is a lonely, isolated self, living in alienation from God, self and others.  It is all to easy for men to withdraw back into their inner fortress, rather then stay engaged in vital relationships.  A man may seem fully energized in  everyday pursuits, but live with an inner ache of loneliness.   Secondly, the sense of being trapped with no inner spiritual  breathing space.  This is life without any window to the spiritual realm, similar to the  cave dwellers of Plato’s  parable of the cave, living with their torches in the darkness, unaware of the light that is just beyond their reach.

Thirdly, the sadness of never knowing our  uniqueness as men created in God’s image. We are not able to handle our uniqueness very well in the contemporary “gender wars.”   “It is difficult to know how to compare myself to other people, although I am constantly tempted to do so….I oscillate between pride and anxiety that I am alone with my uniqueness.” (James Houston).  Remember men, when a man buffers himself against God’s presence in his life,  he can not be affirmed as the unique man God created him to be. He is insecure in his maleness.

Fourthly, the dreaded reality that we will be manipulated far beyond our comprehension by the descending cultural darkness.  We simply cannot protect ourselves from being deceived.  Jesus warned, “Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you” (John 12:35).. We need to walk as a porous soul in the light.  The Palmist declares those blest, “who walk in the light of [God’s] presence” (Ps 89:15).

My bride (Judy) and I have for the last 10 years attempted  to live a kind of semi-monastic life.  I call ourselves a “monk and a nun.”  The threefold rhythm of  monastic life in the Benedictine tradition gives us a focus – prayer, study and work.  Manuel work was included in the rule of Benedict not merely to ensure that the monastery operated, but because it was seen as part of the essential calling of the spiritual life..  This was captured by the common monastic Latin phrase era et labora, which means “pray and work.”  But today in modern culture many men experience a  disconnect between their bodies and their lifestyle  because of the lack of physical labor.  Could our culture be causing younger men to devalue physical labor?

Work relates to Christian spirituality in three  ways.  First, work was created by God to be a part of creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and  keep it” (Gen. 2: 15).  Secondly, with the fall of the human race into sin, work was cursed (Gen 3:17) and became toil, carried out “by the sweat of [man’s] brow (Gen. 3:19).  Thirdly, the curse did not eliminate work as a God-ordained.  God still commands people to work: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (Ex 20:9).  I wonder how many of the readers of this  blog experience manual work in their routine of life?

I have spend the last month cleaning up after a massive wind storm that took many trees down.  I know for me, it is a good thing to do physical work.  I need the exercise and there is plenty of work to do.  What promoted this blog on work was a piece by David French in the National Review.  He referenced a study reported in the Washington Post, showing that, “the grip strength of  college men had declined significantly between 1985 and 2016…….the grip strength of the sample of college men had declined so much – from 117 pounds of force to 98 – that it now matched that of older Millennial women.”  French remarked, “the average college male had no more hand strength than a 30-year-old mom.”

While it is only one study, “it was consistent with other studies showing kids are less fit today.”  I think French is right when he says, “Today’s young males don’t have common touchstones for what it’s like to grow up as a man.”  Part of being a man was doing manual work, learning the qualities of protector, builder and fixer.  Raising a boy to be a man used to be a “natural” act.  But today raising a boy needs to be more an “intentional” act, defying political correctness, whereby dads train their sons to not just be courageous but also physically fit.

I know for myself, I feel “the toil” of labor here on the lake. But I accept it as part of being a man.  Men, how do you relate to manual labor?  Do you think men are becoming weaker?  How are you modeling common labor to your son?  How does manual labor fit into your spiritual rhythm of life?

Here are a few suggestions.  First, stay in shape physically.  If you don’t work physically, get fit in some other way.  Secondly, use labor or exercise to clear you mind and renew your soul.  Thirdly, build the rhythm of physical activity into your weekly routine.  Fourthly, model the blessing of physical labor to your children, especially your son.  Fifthly, thank God if you have the strength and ability to do work.