a healthy notion of manhood

I will devote space at the beginning of each week to share thoughts of others who are much more intelligent and insightful than I, with the hope that their words encourage and challenge you as much as they have me. This weeks thoughts are from Robert Lewis and his Book Raising a Modern day Knight:

“You need to know, Dad, that your son and thousands like him are presently being stripped of their maleness by modern, secular, feminist culture. Over the last few decades, this culture has steadily and relentlessly undermined healthy notions of what it means to be a man. Once-noble images of masculinity have now been replaced by images of men behaving badly…or incompetently… or both. Manhood is no longer a unique calling; it’s now seen more as a problem to be overcome.

At the same time, many young men are confused because of their lack of connection with their father-socially, emotionally, and spiritually. All this has created an acute masculine identity crisis. If you were to ask most young men today “How does a man act?” or “What are his unique responsibilities?” or “What role should he assume in his marriage?” you would receive little more than a blank stare. Many have no concept of the kind of man they should become. Not a clue. Listen to the poem one young man penned for me out of his own personal manhood vacuum:

What is a man?Is he someone who is strong and tall,Or is taut and talented as he plays ball?Is he someone who is hardened and rough,Who smokes and drinks and swears enough?Is he someone who chases women hard,With a quest to conquer, but never dropping his guard?Is he someone with a good business mind,Who gets ahead of the others with his nose to the grind?Or is he someone who tries his best,Not really caring about any of the rest?What is a man? Does anyone know?TELL ME!Who is the prototype? To whom shall I go?

Dad…your son is asking those very questions right now as he grows up under you. In fact, many of the social problems of our day (plummeting morality, rising crime, violence, abuse, reckless pleasure-seeking) spring from the soil of directionless, disconnected sons.

Conversely, I believe a healthy, vibrant masculinity goes hand-in-hand with social stability. So, I feel hope for our country when I see the rise of movements such as Promise Keepers. It’s obvious that many men today are searching again for their true masculine identity.

The best hope still lies in the hearts of fathers…in dads who are beginning to ask, “How can I raise my boy into a man? A real man?” These are the right questions from the one who is most suited to give answers that will stick for a lifetime.”


Raising a Modern Day Knight