What Does it Mean to Be Manly?
I came across a few videos today on YouTube that were a bit frustrating to watch. I’m not posting them here because 1. they are frustrating 2. they are inappropriate for my site and 3. I don’t want to promote the males that made these videos. What I found in these videos was a misconstrued image of manliness, but not in the normal sense (aka – “cultural manliness”, as I refer to it –> money, power, women, stuff…) but in a sense of bashing overly manly activities, ideas, thoughts and practices. Taking it to the other extreme; calling men to be more feminine. Yuck.
Let me make it clear to the readers of this blog what I mean when I say words like MANLY, MANLINESS, TRUEMAN, TRUEMANHOOD, etc. In essence, I mean virtue. In none of the three videos that sparked this post did they ever mention anything about virtue. It might get old hearing about virtue, and yes, I write about it frequently, but virtue = manliness. TrueManliness. Plain and simple.
Others can blog/vlog about whatever they want, but when it comes to talking about manliness, they aren’t my compass. My compass points are Christ and St. Joseph, combined with other saints and men who are alive (both literally and figuratively) in the faith. These men live(d) out “the greatest of these” – Love. Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Faith, Hope and Love. Live them.
If you would like a copy of some virtue materials, contact TrueManhood.com at proveritasspeakers@gmail.com.
Man up!
An Explanation on Ephesians Chapter 5
On semi-regular occasions, I come across stories of men and women who look at Ephesians Chapter 5 in a different way than the Church does. It often appears that they take the writings out of context and make them something that they are not. I want to take a few minutes to explain portions of this sometimes mistaken portion of Scripture. Note: I am not a Biblical scholar – I recommend that you cross-check my words here with other sources for full understanding.
Starting at verse 21 in chapter 5, St. Paul tells Wives and Husbands “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, He Himself the savior of the body. As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” A few hard-hitting verses. If we stop at this verse, we see the writer (St. Paul) asking women to be subordinate to their man in everything. It almost appears that a woman should blindly follow her husband simply because he is 1. her husband and 2. the head of his wife. We might look at this and say that a wife needs to be “below” her husband and always do as he tells her. The image of a slave and a master comes to mind here. After all, it’s right there in Scripture – right?
Not quite. We need to continue reading to finish out this section. 25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His body.” We see a much different story when we continue reading. St. Paul isn’t writing this to women alone. Most importantly, he is writing this to husbands; husbands are the readers who especially need to heed these words.
Look at this with me: scripture tells us that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Christ didn’t love the Church out of dictatorial power… He loved the Church out of service, out of self-sacrifice and out of pure virtue. If we leave this part out of our understanding, our understanding lacks truth and our relationship with our spouse suffers. Again, St. Paul is speaking to the men, saying “Men, serve your wife! LOVE you wife! Give up what you want for the sanctity and holiness of your wife! Love her as you love yourself! Want what’s best for her, never thinking about yourself first!” I can imagine him being incredibly frustrated with men who were lacking as husbands, trying to get them to see that Christ set the example of being a real husband (a TrueMan) for them and that they simply need to emulate Him in order to succeed.
This means, for us men who are or who will be husbands, that we MUST act as Christ acted. We must be perfected so that our actions, thoughts, words and deeds line up with how Christ would have done them. We must be sacrificial in the way that we treat our wife. Christ was a servant leader, He said “I come to serve, not to be served.” Do that… don’t live to be served.
On a practical note: as you look at your marriage and begin to digest what you are reading, realize that countless blessings will come from being a servant leader for your wife. Being a servant leader means that you are serving while leading. Service comes first. Want respect from your wife? Respect her first. Want your wife to honor you? Honor her first. Want your wife to trust you? Trust her first. It’s a simple formula and this formula will change your life. Christ calls us to act in the manner He acted, so guess what… if you are trying to act as Christ acted, you can’t be selfish, ever. Serve your wife, serve your kids, serve your co-workers, serve everyone, and do it ahead of yourself and your needs. It will change your life.
Man up!
Opening Day (Holy Week)…Opening Day (MLB)
April 6th, 2009… opening day for two important institutions. One, as you will read quite obviously, is much more important than the other. [The other simply lasts much longer than the first.]
The first “opening day” is Monday of Holy Week– the week leading up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Technically, Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. Holy week signifies a time in our lives where we remember (commemorate) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection from the dead. It’s incredibly important. Easter begs us to ask the ever-philosophical “chicken or the egg” question – is Christmas or Easter more important? I won’t get into that here. Easter, whether more/less important than Christmas, is incredibly important for us because it signifies the culmination of salvation history in Christ’s conquering of death on the cross. Christ – the ultimate servant leader. I encourage everyone to make special time this week to take part in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday – actually one continuous liturgy). Open your heart and your mind to what God is calling you to. The end of Lent can still be a fruitful time for you. Give it a great deal and you’ll receive a great deal in return.
The other institution (although, a bit difficult to talk about following that Holy Week piece) is Major League Baseball. MLB has been a part of my life since birth. Now, I’m not trying to convince the baseball-haters of the world that baseball is a great sport – heaven knows that soccer fans won’t convince me that soccer is a great sport – I simply want to call to mind that opening day for the 2009 season is today. This marks a special day for baseball fans everywhere when we know that basketball is ending soon 🙂 and we have sunny summer days at the ballpark to look forward to. Double-plays, stolen bases and home-runs.
A thought… if the Pirates win today, I suggest that they end the season early and end their pitiful 16-year streak of playing sub-.500 baseball. It would be a great thing for us Pirates fans to have a “winning season”. Just kidding – I guess.
Either way – Man up!
The Power of Observation
A TrueMan is observant. Observation, in this context, means being incredibly aware of what’s going on around you at all times and in all circumstances. What I’m speaking of could almost be considered hyper-observation. (Put that in the man dictionary!) Being observant prepares a man to act, to respond and to plan ahead. It’s an incredible tool – learn it. Here are a few examples of how The Power of Observation comes in handy:
As many readers know from my post on Monday of this past week, my truck was stolen in the middle of the night and has not been found, even now, almost a week later. Good thing I’m observant. I have a photographic memory; I know exactly where something is (was) in my truck, including the consoles, the glove box, the back seat, the tool boxes and the bed. Why does this matter? My observant mindset gives me a list, in full, of what was in my truck when it was stolen. I’ll take that list to the insurance company and be refunded It’ll cost me more paperwork and a home-owner’s claim (along with my auto claim) but I’ll gain a ton of money to replace my stolen property. If I didn’t have a photographic memory, I would miss many items.
Another place where observation is important is in public. I am always aware of who’s in the room, what they’re doing and how they might pose a challenge. I trust that most people are good, but in reality, I know that some people like to cause problems. The bank could robbed, the gas station could be held up at gunpoint, the restaurant I’m eating in could be endangered. Heck, my plane could be hijacked. In any case, I’m ready to respond to a threat. I’m also always aware of the exits and the quickest route to the door.
Yet another example of how observation plays a powerful role is while driving. If you (any driver) is not observant, you could possibly be endangering the lives of others around you. Let’s say you’re driving down the highway at 75 mph and all of a sudden, the cars in front of you slam on their brakes. You have mere seconds to react. If you’re observant, you know where other vehicles are around you and you know you can/can’t change lanes, you can/can’t slow down soon enough, etc.
The bottom line is this… be observant, it really pays.
Man up!
Man Night Tonight
Tonight, I’m hosting Man Night for cadets at the Air Force Academy. We’ll be having lots of Food, a Yard Game Tournament (Horseshoes, Washers and Ladder Ball) along with a Fire Pit Grunt Session (topic – Manly Purity). Great fun.
I thought, in the spirit of all-things-manly, I’d post this hilarious video clip today.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-6ph7NWoBM]
Man up!
The Don't Song
Another video I stumbled across one day. Although these guys are doing parody, it’s true.
Man up!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-lv8745InI]
"A Worldview that Leaves Me Cold"
This tid-bit came across my inbox today. I find it hilarious and frustrating at the same time. The point of why I’m posting it on TrueManhood today is that I want to encourage us all to think for ourselves and not get caught up in socially-enabled “End Times Fear”. God provides and is much bigger than global warming. Take care of your portion of the planet and keep living.
Man up!
“The brutal winter of 2009 is finally coming to an end in the Great Plains. Or is it? Temperatures across North Dakota have been five to 10 degrees below normal all winter long. Massive snowfalls have blanketed the Peace Garden State for months. As now, North Dakota is enduring an end-of-March blizzard. The people of Fargo are paying the price. The ice-jammed Red River is cresting more than 40 feet over normal, flooding everything that isn’t protected by the heroic efforts of North Dakota citizens building up and maintaining the levies. So, I ask you, what is the cause of all the cold, the snow, and the ice? Global warming, of course!
According to Kate White, a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, “climate change caused by global warming likely is changing ice conditions and adding to the unpredictability” of ice jams along the Red River, so she said.
Let me see if I get this. A “near-record snowpack,” along with below-normal temperatures, have led to more ice, which is acting unpredictably because of global warming? What am I not getting here? I’ll tell you what I am getting—more proof that apocalyptic visions of global warming are driven by a particular worldview. Forget the facts. Even President Obama, at least to some degree, has bought into it. Here’s what he had to say: “I actually think the science around climate change is real. . . . If you look at the flooding that’s going on right now in North Dakota . . . that indicates the degree to which we have to take this seriously.” Record snow is the result of global warming? Folks, what we have to take seriously here is the fact that our worldview determines how we see the world and how we live in the world. And we’d better have it correct, which is why I spend so much time talking about this on this broadcast every day.
Despite the fact that the globe has been cooling since at least 2002, or that near-record cold and snow have plagued much of North America all year long, all the proponents of global warming can see is—well, global warming. This is why its adherents in Congress and in the White House want curbs on greenhouse gases, potentially ruinous cap-and-trade policies, and curbs on oil exploration (at a time when we need to decrease our dependence on foreign oil). And if in the near future you start paying upwards of $5 a pound for ground beef, thank those in Congress who want to tax cow flatulence as a way to combat global warming. As the New York Times relates, renowned physicist Freeman Dyson has called “climate change an ‘obsession’—the primary article of faith for ‘a worldwide secular religion’ known as environmentalism.” Dyson accuses the adherents of this religion of “relying too heavily on computer-generated climate models that foresee . . . imminent world devastation as icecaps melt, oceans rise and storms and plagues sweep the earth.” But the models aren’t holding true. Which is why the global warming scientists need to examine their worldview. And then they need to step out of the computer lab and take a walk. But they’d better bundle up first.”
