Starting a Master's Program
It’s official, I’m starting a master’s program. I’ll be “attending” the distance ed. program (online-ish) from the Augustine Institute in Denver, CO. I’m on the 2 year track, so graduation will be end of summer, 2011! Please pray for my studies.
The Master’s will be in Theological Studies (another way to say it is Catechesis & Evangelization). The Augustine Institute is a relatively new school that is focused primarily on the New Evangelization that Pope John Paul II called us to. The instructors are amazing and the content will really stretch my brain. I’m not looking forward to tests and papers, but I’m really excited about the material and the knowledge that I’ll be gaining.
Why do you all care about this? Well, it’s an example of how I’m trying to better myself. We should all do this – men and women. I’ve realized that I’m maxed out on information from my bachelor’s degrees and I need more knowledge if I’m going to succeed in ministry, this site and my speaking career – not to mention succeeding in teaching my children the faith. I’m getting this degree for many reasons; knowledge, greater responsibility within the Church, to help my family, etc. I’m also getting this degree because I hear a call to get it. God expects great things from me and I will succeed in those endeavors.
In your own life, think about areas that need improvements, areas where more knowledge would benefit you, and then do something about it. This could be a degree, a financial class, a cooking class. It could be a gym membership or a diet routine. It could be gardening or car maintenance. The point is that if we remain stagnant, we become stale. Once we are stale, we’ve got little or nothing to offer. A TrueMan offers his very best, every time.
Man up!
A Dating Tip, or Two
The other day, I posted the “Superman Dates” video clip. I got a little bit of feedback on it, and felt like it was important to talk about some other aspects of dating, for both ladies and guys.
Ladies: what I am about to say is always true, in every situation, no matter what. YOU DESERVE NOTHING BUT THE BEST. You do. You deserve a man who respects you, who serves you, who cherishes you, who believes and demonstrates that there is no one more important or special for him and you deserve a man who puts his full energy and attention into your relationship. If he doesn’t, then he’s not good enough for you. Plain and simple. If he doesn’t care enough to do the little things in a dating relationship, why would anyone ever expect him to start caring when you are married? Or when times get tough? Or when you have kids? The little things he does/doesn’t do while dating are foreshadowing his future behavior.
It’s also vitally important that you set you standards high, from the beginning. If you wait until you’re in a relationship to create a list of “must haves” it will be incredibly difficult to see beyond the emotion, history and investment of your current relationship. Once you create your list, don’t stray from it. (Add to it, but don’t stray from it.) If you grow, mature and change as a person, your list can change with you, as long as it’s what best for you and your future.
If all the women in the world increased their standards (and wouldn’t compromise on them) it would force men to change their behavior. Now, I’m not saying that it’s the fault of females that men can be bad in relationships or in society or that they don’t know what it means to be a TrueMan. What I’m saying is that if women were to have a standard and keep it, that men would have to check their crass, immature, childish, destructive behavior at the door and make positive choices to raise themselves up to be worthy of dating a woman. Ladies, you hold the power to make your future bright by choosing a man that deserves you because you know that you deserve the very best.
Guys: I’ll most likely get into our part of the dating world in upcoming posts, but for now, read through the ladies’ section and check yourself. If a woman had a list, would your actions, choices and behavior warrant you being selected as “sufficient”? If not, think about things you can do to change so that when “the one” comes along, you’re ready to treat her like your queen.
Man up!
Earth Day
I bet most of you are surprised to see that I’m writing about Earth Day today. Now, I’m no tree hugger, or granola- cruncher, but I think there’s something to be said about protecting the environment. How does a TrueMan do that?
I recommend that we look at the Book of Genesis to get a foundation for this. Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” To cultivate and to care for it – in Hebrew, to SHAMAR (guard). Everything in the garden (creation) was given to Adam to protect and defend it. Yes, this included the woman (Eve) and the animals, but it also included the land and plants. See, God wanted Adam to take responsibility for his surroundings. Ask any farmer, and they’ll tell you that the land produces more bounty if you take care of it. Adam’s job was to see to it that the land produced a large bounty.
The same goes for us now. God expects that we shamar our gardens (our families, our land, our life, our Church). He expects that we protect and defend all that is around us, therefore, we must protect our earth. Personally, I’m not going to stop driving my eight cylinder Chevy truck, but what I will do is continue to use cloth diapers and homemade bio-degradable baby wipes. I’ll continue to throw away my trash in a can instead of littering the side of the highways. I will instill in my children how to respect the earth. When I camp, I protect the fire from spreading. When I see trash, I pick it up. I’ve recently started using CFL bulbs around the house and just bought a bunch of new ones for the remaining lights. It’s the little things that add up and really count.
Think about how you can protect the earth in your own little way. If we all do it just a little bit, it’ll add up to some big changes.
Man up!
Pontius Pilate, What You Did Was NOT Manly
I thought several times throughout Holy Week, as well as when I watched “The Passion of the Christ” on Friday night, that Pontius Pilate (pronounced pon-chus pi-lot) was not manly in his decisions to condemn Jesus to death. He tried, yes, at first, to tell the people that Jesus had done nothing wrong. Where he went wrong was when he worried about what sort of uprising the Jewish high priests would start and what the people would do. He let self-preservation win out over justice.
He’s infamously remembered by Catholics in our Creed (our profession of faith) “…He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate…“. This is because Pilate had the power to prevent Christ’s horrible torture, scourging, carrying of His cross and His death, but failed to act; all out of fear. He was a coward. Even the movie “The Passion of the Christ” (picture above from a scene with Pilate and Jesus) shows Pilate’s wife as a hero and a servant, with compassion and deep sorrow while Pilate simply looks on, worried about himself. Pilate leaves us with a good example of what not to do.
Christ tells us that we’ll be persecuted because of Him, because we follow Him and because we love Him. We should be ready and prepared to persevere. We prepare for this by training (prayer and fasting, mostly). When it comes down to it, who will you side with? Will you take the easy way out and deny Christ or will you stand firm in your beliefs, in your faith and in HIS love and witness for Jesus? Only time will tell.
Again, society tells men that we must look out for ourselves and self-preservation. Christ, the Church and TrueManhood.com say something different. We all say “defend Christ, defend Mother Church, defend Truth” – God will provide for us and will raise us up on the last day. A True Man does this. A man like Pontius Pilate doesn’t. What kind of man are you?
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!
All Eyes On Me
All eyes on me… and you…
I know Dennis Rodman said “I never asked to be a role model”, but he’s in the spot light. And you – although probably not in the spot light – probably never asked to be a role model either. Guess what? You are a role model. You’re a role model whether you want to be or not. Whether you are at home (with siblings, parents, spouse, children or friends) or at work, or at Church or in public… all eyes are on you. Maybe you didn’t ask, but it’s the fact of the matter.
So why does this matter? So what if everyone is watching me? It matters because all of those eyes are connected to brains that are forming impressions about you. And you don’t only represent yourself, you represent all men, everywhere. If you are a father, you represent fatherhood. If you are a Catholic, you represent Catholicism. If you’re doing a great job of setting a great example, then great! Keep up the good work! If, however, you are setting a poor example, then you are making my job much more difficult. If women look at you and think that the behavior you live out is what a man is, shame on you. If children look at you and think that the behavior you live out is what a man is, how dare you. If non-believers look at you and think that the behavior you live out is what a Christian (man) is, may God have mercy on you.
You might not ask for it, but all eyes are on you. You can make this seemingly gigantic task have an incredible outcome if you live as a TrueMan should. How does a man live as a TrueMan? First and foremost, he is virtuous. This includes being faithful to God and being loving. After these two vital virtues, he respects others, honors his wife and children and is hard working. I could continue on for pages. Summed up, a TrueMan is a virtuous man.
Man up!
