A Man?

What is it that makes a man a man? Is it his measure of confidence? Is it how much weight he can bench press? Maybe it is how much money he has? Could it be how many women he has slept with? Or even having a girlfriend at all? Does it coincide with how large his genitalia are? Or is it something much more than these? Perhaps a measure of a man can be found by going back to who made man in the first place. God made man in his image and man was made to be in the wild. I have been reading a book called Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. It has really changed my perspective on what men are called to be. Especially for a lot of Christian men, because to be honest it seems many of us are bored and for lack of a better word, womanish. It seems most men in the church have lost their will to fight back, to explore, to be adventurous, to stand for himself and his family, to share without fear of what others think about him. Being a man is about being able to fight for what is right, being able to live on the edge of death, being able to fight for his woman and the beauty that she has to unveil to the world. He is the rock of the family, the provider, the defender, and the adventurer. He is dangerous and that is what makes his strength so scary. That is why our culture has tried to strip men of everything that makes them men. Probably the biggest problem with men is they do not know who they are in God. They get their identity from all the things that cannot fulfill them: women, money, power, prestige, work, or just being nice. You ever met a "nice" guy that looked like he was enjoying life? They are like a neutered dog, they have no spark, no danger, no strength. What I mean by strength is being able to eat their fear for breakfast and face something new everyday with great abandon and excitement. To adventure out from their preconceived comfort zones. As Eldridge describes, the world of todays men are like lions that can be found at a zoo. They are completely lifeless and are caged up. They are stripped of everything that makes them the predator of the plains. They are in effect bored.I hope God can continue to work in me to help me regain my strength in a world that is trying to emasculate me and put me in my place. I want to be wild, to be dangerous, to be someone that can stand for what is right, when everyone else shoots me down or wants to play it safe. That is my prayer.

Solitude

Well this week is Fall Break for Georgia Tech. I go to go help out clearing some land of fallen trees this weekend. It was pretty fun and exciting. I was around a lot of people. Then when I cam back to my dorm, everyone is gone. And my phone actually died recently as well. I tried messaging a couple of my friends, but none of them responded, until finally tonight I found someone to talk to. Being alone is something that I seem to desire a lot because I usually do not get a lot of time to myself. Now that I actually have time to myself I am almost at a loss as to what to do. It is interesting how my mind automatically thinks of things I can do to distract myself. You know, watch a movie, play a video game, facebook, pandora, reading. But today when I finally realized that this was time that I could spend alone with God. It is the perfect opportunity. Here I was finding distractions, when that was all they were;distractions from God. I started praying and playing my guitar, and I just felt a warmth and peace I have not had in a while. Bible reading went great today, and I just feel altogether rejuvenated. I wish I had realized it sooner, that I had a wonderful opportunity before me. I am not sure when I will have this much time to just do whatever I want, but it is a rare occurrence. If only I had my own wilderness I could go to and spend time with God, but for now my room will do.