Beards for Breath – No Shave November

A man with a great idea… Beards for Breath.  AJ Garcia, a young man with a pro-life passion, posted an invitation to thousands on Facebook just a few days ago.  The info is below.  Great job AJ.

As always, I have my beard and am pro-life.  “For there are only two kinds of people without beards; They are 1. Women and 2. Children. And clearly, I am neither.”

“Most of us are familiar with what has become known as “No Shave November” a great time for men everywhere to join uniting in hairy faces. Each year I am asked to join friends in this shaveless endeavor and each year I am hesitant to commit. There are a few reasons for this, 1. I have symmetrical bald spots on my face preventing the growth of a full and natural beard. And 2. What is the reason for not shaving, is there a cause or what?

So this year I invite you to join me in a cause for “No Shave November” and join me in “Beards for Breath”. Some of you know that October was Pro-Life Month, but why should it end in October? So this November instead of just not shaving I invite you to fast from shaving, giving you an easy opportunity to offer something up in prayer. So every time you itch your face or are running your hands through your beard and think how much it is driving you crazy, offer it up and say a prayer for those little ones that have yet to take a breath and for those who were never given a chance to breathe.

Now I understand that some of you may be hesitant to commit to this due to a female influence; girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, etc. Well invite them to join you. Not to stop shaving, but to offer up how bad you might look or how much they might hate your facial hair in prayer that those breaths of the unborn might be taken.

There are so many women that are using contraceptives or are considering an abortion, some that have never even considered life for the one inside of them. At the same time men are using contraceptives and encouraging those abortions.

Another thing, have you ever thought of your beard as a weapon? Well this month it can be. Just think, each time someone asks you why you’re going out your facial hair you have such an opportunity to witness to the Pro-Life Cause. Or you can choose to say you’re growing it just for No Shave November knowing that it is for something much more. Be careful with your weapon.

So men let us sharpen our razors one last time this Sunday and then let us unite in prayer and hairy faces as we pray for an end to abortion.”

A Change of Command

In a move that many see as an absolute must, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a new Archbishop to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest diocese in the US, however at the same time, one of the worst off.  Archbishop Gomez, formerly of San Antonio, will be fully installed as Archbishop early in 2011.  His orthodoxy speaks for itself; we should expect to see some big changes in L.A. soon.  I came across this video and laughed quite hard around the 3:00 minute mark, along with other smirks, laughs and downright joy throughout other sections.  If you don’t understand what’s going on here please email me (Dave@TrueManhood.com) or find me on Facebook so that I can answer your questions, clarify any seemingly ‘gray’ areas or explain what’s happening more indepth.

I’m unable to embed the video in the post, so click HERE to watch it.  Wish I could post it directly.

TrueMan Up!

Clarification on Previous Post – "Examples All Around" from Sep 22, 09

I really appreciate the comment from a reader who asked me to clarify why I think the descriptions from the previously-posted Facebook status update (posted originally on September 22, 2009) was so horrible.  Here goes:

As you can see, the Facebooker updated their status with one of those “quizzes” to rate yourself on “What Movie Badass Are You?”  His initial response was “Guns, Girls and Cars… isn’t that the definition of a badass?”  I first want to mention that most guys want to appear “hard” or, in this case, a “badass”.  It’s that thing inside us, a territorial thing, an “I can kick your butt” thing.  There’s a connotation that goes along with that feeling… that in order to really be hard, you must get as many women as possible, you’ve absolutely got to have a sweet ride and the more guns and ammo you have, the harder you must be.  (I could continue on with other categories – how much money you have, what kind of house you live in, what you do for a living, how many employees you have, how many vacations you take, how much power you hold, how many and what kind of scars you have, etc.)  This is an example of “cultural manliness”. 

The idea of cultural manliness is that, as you accumulate more wealth, as you sleep with more women, as you buy more stuff and as your power “ranking” goes up, the more manly you are.  Cultural manliness never takes into account your virtue, your faith, your relationship with God and/or others, how you treat your wife/children/family/friends/strangers/etc.  Cultural manliness is a facade, a lie, a demeaning and empty way of living.  The glamour of being a “culturally manly” man will wear off in time.  How many people will a culturally manly man hurt along the way?

Back to the post… the description (in this case, of James Bond) mentions traits that might be good, if explained more and in the correct context.  However, in the context they are in, these traits (strong, fast, clever, refined, etc.) lead only to one trait, “…and still get laid in the process.”  These traits aren’t listed in order to positively affect the world or in order for you to become the best man you can become, they’re listed in order to lead towards women sleeping with you.  There is a great disparity between these two distinctions. 

Let me make myself clear here… there’s nothing wrong with being attractive, refined and clever.  There’s nothing wrong with women being drawn to you.  The problem here is that the motivation to be those things and to possess those traits is skewed and misguided.  Deep down, inside every man, there’s an urge to be “manly” – to be courageous and daring, attractive and intelligent.  Listen to what God is saying through your urge to be manly, so that you know what He wants from you.  Once you feel the urge and know exactly what God wants you to do with it, you’ll be living a purposeful life for God!

I hope this clarification helps.

Man up!