Being a man

My youngest son came to visit this past week. I put him on a plane at toodamnedearly this morning. As I drove away from the airport I began to ask myself what he had learned from me about being a man during his visit. I'm gonna guess he learned that men are busy and distracted. I'm gonna guess that he learned somehow between the lines that he is loved and important as well.

Being a man isn't always an easy thing. It means being divided between work and family, between heart and obligation, between the important and the unimportant. Being a man is one of those things I hope to get figured out sometime before I die.

I know that being a man is a powerful call. Too often for us men - when we wake up enough to realize who we are - we live our masculinity faintly - life is like discovering King Arthur's sword in our hall closet. We are unsure as to what to do with the thing. Oh the impact we could have on the world if we could figure it out.

And that right there becomes the essential task of being a man - trying to figure out that sword. May God grant us the wisdom to wield it with character, purpose, and power.