As The Emerging Man I have been capturing my experiences along the journey to Manhood.
What I discovered so far is that the destination of ‘Manhood’ is not clearly defined.
If I said, “lets go to Chicago,” we could look at a map, Google or Gazetteer, as we drink a cup of coffee, and make a detailed plan on how to get there. There’s some work involved… but it’s exciting, and fun, because you can see where you will end up… you might even have to take Lower Wacker Drive.
Manhood… “where is that?”, is it a place in time… a condition… a mental understanding… or a random accumulation of biological sequences… and then you die?
“How can I be a man?” First… you have to determine what you believe a man to be.
If you don’t have a person in your life that you can look to as a man you would want to emulate, you will have to determine the qualities you would like to aspire to, in order to create the destination, and way points, along your journey to Manhood.
“and if thou rememberest that what does the work of a fig tree is a fig tree, and what does the work of a dog is a dog, and what does the work of a bee is a bee, and what does the work of a man is a man.” ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I’ve found as we mature bodily we take on the appearance of a man… we are grown, we have a job, we may have even fathered children, but what I’ve experienced… that is only a third of being a complete man.
God has endowed us with a body, mind and spirit. What my experience has taught me is that each of these three need to be matured and forged together, like a Basque Falcata, in order to be a complete man.
Marcus Aurelius would have us determine our manhood by doing the work of a man… I offer this… stop thinking of your job as the only ‘work’ a man has to do to be a man.
“How can I be a man?”
Honor your word.
By “honor your word,” I mean for you to place a value on your own word. Do you value your own word? Do you realize your word is of little value right now? You may be putting out words but they carry no weight. You may think they do because you are louder than everyone else and can dominate a conversation, dumping words out like a truck load of sand box sand, which costs only pennies, irritates people with it’s abrasive nature, and is intended for children to play in.
“How can I be a man?”
If you give someone your word, say at work… and you give your word you will cover their shift… then follow through, don’t say anything about it, if you said you would don’t hold it over them as if they owe you something, and don’t complain about it later. You said you’d do it, so you do it.
You are physically grown, biologically… but your mind and your spirit need some refining, in order to be laminated together to become a ‘living sword.’
“Falcata blades were made from three layers of steel that had been buried for years in order to corrode out weaknesses, that were then joined together in a furnace. Ancient sources report that blade quality was tested by a warrior placing the flat of the blade atop his head, then bending it so handle and tip touched his shoulders. A good falcata blade was expected to spring back into shape, with no hint of the bend.” ~https://historycollection.co/12-historys-deadliest-swords/4/
It’s time to remove your three parts, your body, mind and soul, out of the cold, cold ground it’s been corroding in, bring it into the forge that creates men, and start working on it.
“How can I be a man?” Start with this.
Honor your word.
Value it. Invest it wisely. First and foremost… invest it in yourself.
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