He Lost It
Maybe you saw this video from about 10 days ago. It’s video of a minor league hockey coach who goes ballistic on the referee about a bad call against one of his players. The coach is Jim Playfair, which is sort of ironic, considering. Be sure to watch the folks in the stands, as well as the players to the coach’s left laughing at him. Take a look.
If you can’t view the video, click HERE.
What’s amazing is that in our culture, this sort of behavior is glorified. Although collectively, we think things such as “what a crazy man” or “that guy’s goin’ nuts”, we watch it and continually let it happen. This particular video has been viewed over 555,000 times, and is merely one version of the incident. The fact that this coach lost his cool like this shows that he’s not virtuous in the area of prudence, temperance or justice. (A TrueMan is virtuous.) I wonder what would happen at my office if someone acted this way.
I watched a few videos discussing this outburst, and one that caught my attention was a radio personality that said, something to the effect of, “this is a coach expressing emotion. He’s defending his player, showing some emotion. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” In fact, the radio guy went on to call it “great”, that this coach did what he did. Well, Mr. Smart-Radio-Personality-Guy, a TrueMan controls his emotions and doesn’t lash out like Mr. Playfair. This was not great.
TrueMan Up!
TrueManhood’s Guide to Virtue
Click for TrueManhood’s Guide to Virtue
LEARN VIRTUE, LIVE VIRTUE!
Man up!
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!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 4 – Temperance
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 4 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 4 – TEMPERANCE.
Temperance moderates our attraction to pleasure. This can be any form of pleasure… physical, emotional, sexual, mental, spiritual, etc. There is an opposing vice that we should stay away from… insensibility (the complete rejection of any pleasure). Pleasure, in and of itself, is not bad, as long as it is ordered and moderated. There are three major vices that go along with temperance that we all deal with, in one way or another; it is NOT manly to indulge in these sins!
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Gluttony – inordinate consumption of food and/or drink. If they need a fork lift to come get you from the booth to your car, you ate too much. We are incredibly guilty of this in America with our portion sizes. A way to fight gluttony is by fasting.
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Drunkenness – hinders our reason. Drinking to excess means that we are willingly depriving ourselves of our reason (St. Thomas Aquinas). A HUGE problem in our culture. Men, drunkenness is not manly. Being able to stop after 1 or 2 drinks is manly and it doesn’t just mean you do this when you are driving. This is at home, at a party, with a DD, where ever. Losing all ability to think, function, act and control yourself is cowardly. Be a man, put the drink down.
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Lust – is destructive and causes harm. Sex, like fire, is a good thing – in context. If a fire gets out of control, it destroys. If it is used how it is intended, it gives off warmth and can be used to cook. Sex is the same way… if we make the choice to be chaste, we are ordering our sexuality in the way that God intended. Don’t be fooled by society, lust is destructive. Everyone’s NOT doing it – there are those of use who strive for it who are living chaste lives, even in our marriages. St. Thomas Aquinas said: “A man who gives into his lust has weaknesses. From this weakness means that he will give into his passions. He is not free to love.” Are you weak? Be virtuous, control your sexuality, don’t let it control you.
Temperance guides us so that we do not fall into these sins. Being temperate means that we know when enough is enough, too much or sinful.
Man up!
A TrueMan is Virtuous – the start to a 7 day look at Virtue
***My apologies for the delay in posting over the past few days, I was on retreat all weekend and away from technology.***
Virtue (in Latin: virtus) means manliness. In order to truly be manly, we must possess virtue. Virtue means having the “firm and habitual disposition to do the good”. If a man possesses the virtue of Courage, that means that he’s courageous 1. with joy 2. with ease 3. promptly and 4. consistently. Every time, without fail. In order for a man to gain virtue, he must practice. He must also ask for God’s grace to help him acquire virtue. (Note: women can attain virtue as well, and it doesn’t mean that they become manly.)
I’m kicking off a 7 day look at virtue, starting tomorrow. I’ll dive into each of the 4 Cardinal Virtues and each of the 3 Theological Virtues, one each day. Prudence, Justice, Fortitude & Temperance and Faith, Hope & Love. If you want to be a TrueMan, become a virtuous man.
Man up!
