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!
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!
Opening Day 2010
Today marks the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball season. Best of luck to all the teams out there, especially to my Pirates, who need lots of help! There’s something about heading out to the ballpark on a summer day, at least for those of us who like baseball. If you aren’t a baseball fan, that’s fine… this post isn’t about baseball, per se. Here at TrueManhood, we wanted to do a “compare and contrast” between baseball and manliness.
- Baseball is a game. Manliness isn’t.
- Baseball is played during the summer. Manliness is always.
- Baseball players can “mess up” 7 out of 10 times at bat over their entire career and be considered a Hall of Famer. Manliness can’t sustain those numbers.
- Baseball is about trying to win most of the time. Manliness strives to “win” all the time. (“Win” here means to be a TrueMan.)
- Baseball allows men to throw tantrums, kick dirt, scream, cuss, chew and throw drink coolers. Manliness never stands for that sort of behavior.
We could continue on for hours with this sort of thing. I’ve got nothing against baseball, I enjoy baseball, especially when I get to play the game. I grew up playing from an early age into my adult life, I take my family to the ballpark regularly and I really enjoy the playoff season. What we need to be careful about, and this goes for everything in life (other sports, the Hollywood mentality, the online community, etc.) is to take baseball in using moderation. Manliness, however, we should take in with excess! (Remember, manliness means living a virtuous life!)
Man up!
Tuesdays with Daddy – Selfishness Impedes Service
March 31, 2010 by admin
Filed under Blog, Fatherhood, Tuesdays with Daddy, Virtue
My daughter has been sick for several days. Because she is a toddler, it is difficult to really pinpoint what’s happening with her, what hurts and how to make her better. I’ve been at a loss for exactly what to do, and although we’re trying, she doesn’t seem to be getting better. At least not as fast I my wife and I would hope. As I’ve been observing her and contemplating solutions to this problem, I realized something today… selfishness impedes service. What do I mean?
When you’re in charge of someone else, and their entire well-being stems from your actions, it’s plain to see that they not only rely on you to make good decisions, but to be at their service. This isn’t to say that I wait hand-and-foot on my children, but it means that my daughters, especially when ill, need me to be selfless in regards to them. And, I want to be a servant-leader for my family and for the world, which requires me to continually learn how to better serve them. I look at my life and realize (quite often) how selfish I can be. I like what I like, the way I like it, when I like it, how I like it. This gets in the way of my ability to truly serve my family.
Where did my selfish tendencies come from? Besides my fallen human nature, my tendency toward selfishness stems from my past pornography use. It made everything I do, even serving my sickly little girl, about me. Because of this revelation, I realized that the only way to do that is to look to the cross. I must unite my failures in life to the struggle Christ experienced on the cross so that I am purified of my tendency toward comfort, self-pleasure and ease. My little girl needs me to be one hundred percent committed to taking care of her and if I don’t watch it, I’ll put myself before her, falling into old patterns and losing sight of the cross. If this happens, my selfishness has won and drastically impedes my ability to serve.
I urge everyone to take a step back, especially during Holy Week, to evaluate the areas in your life (vicious behavior) that require change. Figure out how to change those things and continue to work on them until you possess the virtue that overcomes that vice.
Man up!
What’s Coming Next?
My apologies for not posting anything the past week. Since I don’t have sponsors, paid advertisements and/or endorsements (hint hint, wink nudge) I don’t feel too guilty. Actually, I was out of town visiting my very elderly grandmother and some of my extended family with my wife and children, computer time was very limited. TrueManhood.com has definitely been on my mind, but not a priority because much needed time with them was taking precedence. So, since I haven’t written anything lately, I wanted to let everyone know what they can expect in the coming days.
Depending on what I see/hear about/come across/etc. “out there” in regards to TrueManhood, I’ll be posting whatever I think is worthy of a post. Besides those stories, you can expect something on the following topics soon:
- Struggling with Lenten devotions, the struggle of Lent (general) and the tough days during Holy Week.
- Major League Baseball, Opening Day Special
- Holy Thursday – The Vortex, “Judas Today”
- An article about “supertaskers”
- A post about an irate hockey coach. Temper, temper.
- A Dating Article
- A Eucharistic Miracle Video
- Plenty of other great stuff!
Until the next post, keep fighting the good fight!
Man up!
Tuesdays with Daddy – A Kid Pouts, but a Man Shouldn’t
March 23, 2010 by admin
Filed under Blog, Fatherhood, Tuesdays with Daddy, Virtue
This morning, my oldest daughter woke up on the wrong side of the bed. From her nap this afternoon, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, again. Nothing was right for her all day. She didn’t want to play when playtime was suggested. She didn’t want to eat, when meals were prepared. She didn’t want to clean up, she didn’t want to nap, she didn’t want to play, she didn’t want to pray. Then, to top it all off, a huge snow storm hit our region and is potentially preventing us from getting to the airport and flying to visit family – she was not happy about these details. She reacts and her reaction is to pout, throw a tantrum and fuss. A man shouldn’t react that way.
As a grown up (or as a “growing” up), we must realize that our reactions to tough situations should be even keeled. More properly put, our reactions should be “ordered”. I recently watched a program on prison inmates. The inmates seemed pretty calm and easy to get along with while on camera, but unruly, defiant and violent when someone made them mad. They looked like a little kid who wasn’t getting their way, and anyone in their way paid the price. A TrueMan reacts differently.
When I was younger, my reactions to tough situations were pitiful. As I’ve grown older with age, and as I’ve come out the other side of a really bad rage problem, it has become very clear to me that men of virtue, ie: TrueMen, don’t allow their emotions to determine how they act. TrueMen act out of truth… with responsible reactions. It’s a good thing to work on.
Man up!
In a World of Negativity, Think Positive
There’s a lot of junk happening lately and lots of bad stuff happening in the world. We’ve got gigantic problems in Washington, we’re
fighting a war in the Middle East where there hasn’t been peace, well, ever. We’re constantly facing persecution for being “moral, ethical citizens”. Babies are being destroyed for the sake of convenience and preference. A good deal of the time, it doesn’t seem like anything is ever going to get better.
Look on the bright side, we have lots to be thankful for. Someone, somewhere has it much, much worse than you or me. Belly-achin’ and complainin’ about stuff isn’t going to make anything better. Yes, there are plenty of really horrible things taking place in our world, but they shouldn’t effect our daily lives from being focused and centered on Christ.
Imagine how badly St. Paul had it… beatings, being stoned, imprisonment and so on! (Read Philippians 2:12-18.)
Thinking positively helps us take a bad situation and turn it into something decent. There’s serious power in the reality of the power of positive thought. I encourage everyone to try three things over the next three days, and see if your attitude changes.
- Refrain from complaining.
- Find a positive side to everything.
- Do something kind for someone else at least once a day.
After three days, after you’ve tried these three things, comment back, or email, or post on Facebook, or wherever. I want to know what you experienced.
Man up!
