KEEPING THE EDGES HOT after the MROP
By John Parkos  -- ROP 2000                  

Still vivid in my memory is the first time I heard Richard Rohr speak of keeping the edges hot. There was an edge to his voice, which I had never heard before. It was the edge of anger that inhabits the voice of a parent, who is forced into the role of disciplinarian. It was an anger born of sadness rather than vengefulness. It was the sadness of a parent who has reached out to embrace the child and has been frustrated in the attempt, because the child does not recognize what the parent is about. It was the sadness of a teacher whose disciples have not understood the heart of the master.

This took place at a gathering of men who were all veterans of the Rites of Passage. We had gathered to begin a workshop to create meaningful rituals for various situations and groups. We could then take these rituals home with us to expand and enhance the issues of the Rites in the groups with whom we met.

Men had come from various parts of the globe. We had arrived at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. We had found our lodging and unpacked our gear. But we were not ready to begin. We dribbled into the meeting area in twos and threes, past the appointed time to begin. We were introducing ourselves and chattering away.

Richard finally got our attention somehow and began his “Keeping he Edges Hot” speech. He told us that we had indeed come as individuals. But once here we must relate and function as a group. Be on time. Be prepared. Be present to one another. Take care of one another. Help one another. Think “we,” not “me.”

His speech was short. It stung. But it was richly deserved. He meant business and so must we. It was a very different workshop after that. Not casual. Disciplined. Focused. Productive. Engaging. And a lot more fun because we were there for one another.

That was in 2002. Here we are today, each of us a variety of years after our experience of the Rites of Passage. Presumably the Rites were a good experience for each of us. Presumably we went home changed men. Maybe the changes were not yet evident on the surface of our lives. But at the core of our being we had confronted some of the basic issues of male spirituality.

Since then we have found that those issues are far bigger than we imagined. They are far more inclusive, touching every facet of our experience, our vision, our worth. To engage these issues to the point of becoming our vision is a much larger undertaking than we suspected. God has dreamed us from all eternity. To become fully beloved sons of God is indeed the work of at least a lifetime.

Some of us have become discouraged and wandered away; can these men be re-engaged? Some of us have taken on the challenge and struggle mightily to learn and grow into this way of transformation, and to share this way of Pascal Mystery.

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As I examine my experience and my conscience, I ask myself whether I have I learned in a practical way that both the Lone Ranger and John Wayne are dead? In this age of individualism, do I struggle alone? Have I learned that this mysterious gift has indeed been given to me, but it is not for me alone? Have I sought the company of other initiated men, for the sake of journeying together? As I engage them, do I show up on time? Am I prepared? Am I present to them? Am I willing to help care for their needs? Am I willing to allow them to help me with my needs? Have I taken a serious look at how I can/ could grow by belonging to a men’s group? What means will I embrace to be accountable for my own growth? What means will I embrace to be accountable for sharing this wealth with other men, many of whom have not yet realized that they are starving, that they need the very food / gift I hold?

Have I learned that I must depend on our community of Initiated Men for both support and example? Have I learned that the community of M.A.L.E.S. can and must of necessity challenge each of us to share the talents needed for the growth of all? Have I learned that I need other     
M.A.L.E.S. and they need me?

 I have come to value the teaching of Richard Rohr.He does not approach men as workers, tithers, etc., but as disciples – who we are, individually, with Jesus, with each other, with our families. He is out to shape us as shepherds, not teachers. He does not lecture us about what we should be doing. Instead, he gives us an opportunity to get to know WHO each other are; but he does this through a framework of small group confidential sharing around topics, e.g., in books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, articles.

Why do men struggle so often with the spiritual? Many flat out reject the inner journey, mistaking it for being soft or weak. The need for real masculine spirituality, one that speaks to man’s true core, is the subject of Richard’s message. He speaks to the wild man in each of us.

The goal of teaching masculine spirituality is to build a bridge between the inner and outer world. Accomplishing this goal requires strong yet vulnerable men who have been trained in initiation and the eldering process. Men who know that they are beloved sons of God have the respect and ability to be vessels of transformation both now and for generations to come.

Primal societies have demonstrated that cultural survival is dependent on personal spirituality. Unfortunately, the natural way to lead males to this journey has been lost for a thousand years. Male initiation, a rite of passage, no longer plays a role in men’s lives. If boys during formative years don’t have some sort of mature figure in their life who can unfold the bigger picture – the result is a cynicism that often breeds violence. Who can reverse all this? – healthy and spiritually grounded men. If men are not led through an inner journey of powerlessness they will inevitably misunderstand and abuse power. Transformation results in men discovering their true nature and the beloved side of their manhood. God really does respect us!

It is fair to ask, “Who led you on the inner journey to manhood; and who led you on the parallel journey of the life of faith? If you were not fortunate enough to have a guide on either the journey to manhood or the faith journey, what do you wish someone had done for you? And whom are you called to lead on either or both of these journeys?

Going through Male Initiation, or the Men’s Rites of Passage, is a privilege and a blessing for men on their transformation journey. However, it is not sufficient to simply go through the initiation rites. The Initiation Man needs to use this experience in some way that serves others. The “Generative Man” does not live just for himself. God / Jesus calls us to harness our energies into service of one another. How does this service help to bring us to the ultimate belonging to the presence of God?

Initiated or not, where is the hunger to be generative leading you:
How are you present as a Catholic Christian husband?
How are you present as a Catholic Christian father?
How are you present as a Catholic Christian citizen?

How do you express it? How is that hunger sustained and supported and nurtured in you? How did / will you find your authority (the ability to author other people / events; to call them forward; to birth / generate / give life to them)? Do you trust your experience / your authority?

[ # Gleaned from sessions 1-3, “Beloved Sons Series,” Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque NM. ]

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Mike Bennett* (our liaison at the Center for Action and Contemplation) reminds us that it is OUR responsibility to spread the Rites.  Richard says this directly to each of us at the Rites and in the DVD series "The Responsibilities of the Initiated Man".  That's us.  LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU -- one of the Five Promises.  ROP was a gift we were given and it is our responsibility to re-gift that same opportunity. If we don't spread the spark about the ROP, then who should?  There are no other voices than ours.

If you recall your application process for the Rites, probably when you read the ROP application questions you wondered if you were willing to take five days to do this experience.  Because you remember what this felt like for you, make sure to offer to help / talk someone through this process. It's not only critical to their preparation, but also is probably where most of our referrals balk / stop.
 
All of us know men who could benefit and are ready. Just look around your parishes during Sunday worship or the circles in which you move at work and socially. Maybe you will have to follow / groom men for years for this experience. Not all men will say yes. It is slow work. But a steady hand will yield results. It is our charge to get out and deliver this opportunity to people — one-on-one.
 
The Spirit Of God will find the path that is meant to be for the ROP, as in all things, but we might as well do all we can to allow this experience to work through as many men as possible.

Are we getting the message?
Are we working harder, and / or especially smarter?


[ * Quoted in an e-mail from Kevin Anderson, dated 5-18-07. ]

 

 Healing The Father Wound

By: Terry Shaughnessy

When you hear the term ‘men’s movement’ your first image may be of a group of half naked men sitting around a bonfire vigorously pounding on drums.  Or of a stadium full of men rallying around a narrow biblical view of masculinity connected to authority and a man’s place as head of the household.  Those are only two examples of men striving for connection among men and not necessarily representative of contemporary developments in male spirituality.

So what has been happening in the men’s movement of late? You may wonder why men need a movement all their own.  What is distinct about male spirituality compared to female spirituality?

One of the challenges men face is our resistance to change.  As creatures of habit, we struggle to survive as we climb the various ladders of success, eventually ascending higher in order to avoid being overtaken by failure, irrelevance and introspection.  Women struggle with those issues differently and usually not in isolation.  Men tend to approach life struggles with a  ‘go-it-alone’ attitude.

A new generation of male teachers and spiritual elders are encouraging another glimpse into men’s work. “No thank you I don’t have the time or the inclination to bond in touchy-feely groups,” some would say.  For many men there is a parallel search to their spiritual quest that involves connecting with their fathers, alive and deceased, and thereby experiencing intimacy with God.  This is the search for the father.

Most men need look no further than their relationships with their fathers as a source of their greatest grief and, ironically, a gateway into intimacy with God.  Our deepest suffering can ultimately be a purifying process and paradoxically engender spiritual growth.

Less than one in five men report a satisfactory and mutually enhancing relationship with their fathers.  The conventional relationship between father and son is characterized by an absent father who is unavailable both emotionally and physically.  Sons experience a deep unexpressed longing for connection to their absent fathers.  This longing develops into an immense and mostly unexplored wound for many men.

The multidimensional  work of Franciscan, Fr. Richard Rohr, springing from deep Christian roots, has introduced many men to contemporary male spiritually and has facilitated numerous personal transformations.  Rohr says,  “The father wound is so deep and all-pervasive in so many parts of the world that its healing could well be the most radical social reform conceivable.”

The father wound has deep ramifications for family relationships and, significantly, our understanding of God.  Men become trapped in a generational cycle of isolation and abuse when male brokenness festers unexamined.  Many men unknowingly search for surrogate fathers in external authorities such as institutions, corporations or churches.  Their self image has been distorted through the childhood wounding passed on my their fathers, grandfathers and so on.

The hope for all the cumulative pain in the father wound is to be found in the mutual involvement of the men’s movement.  As they sit together in small groups sharing and bonding, these men are clarifying something that is visceral and primal.  They are discovering that healing and blessing begins with honest sharing of their father memories in a safe and supportive setting among men.  Once competitive fires cool among men and trust develops, they are then able to know they are not alone and that there is another way of touching their unexpressed grief.  This bonding enables them to break through the emotional binds of a lifetime of pain and confusion to confront fathers and to experience the fathers healing and blessing.  Now the man is well on his way to inner peace.  This is one way the men’s movement has matured and, consequently, we are all graced by the unfolding occurring among these men.
 

Boys To Men

Rediscovering rites of passage for our time.

By Richard Rohr, OFM.

I have been reading and inquiring in different cultures for the last five years about the process of "growing up" boys. It seems that it is only the recent West that has deemed it unnecessary to "initiate" young men. Otherwise, culture after culture felt that if the young man were not introduced to "the mysteries," he would not know what to do with his pain and would almost always abuse his power. It looks like they were right.

Contemporary phenomena such as the Million Man March, Promise Keepers, and the secular men’s movement are in their own way trying to address this vacuum. Of all the topics I speak on, the subject of masculine spirituality, the male journey, and men’s rites of passage are the most responded to and the most requested. Our churches have their revivals and their sacraments of initiation, but one recent study revealed that 80 percent of active church members are women.

Men do not appear to be at home in the world of spirituality, or at least spirituality as we have defined it in Western churches. Without trying to be unfair, many of the men who are involved in "white man’s religion" are considered by others to be either soft, guilt-ridden, not-so-smart, hanging onto mother’s apron strings, or paying their fire insurance bills to a distant god. This is not an attractive, meaningful, or world-changing story line. The engaged God that transformed Moses, Paul, and Martin Luther King Jr. has to be bigger than this. Initiation introduces the young man to a larger and male-challenging God. They might run from such a God, but at a deeper level they know that this God is also running with them and for them.

Initiation only works when there is a collective spiritual wisdom into which the boy can be introduced and which is agreed upon as rich and valuable by the vast majority of a people. In a deconstructing culture, there is nothing to initiate a young man into except perhaps his private male sensibility. This is fine and even necessary, but it does not create a coherent culture or a safe and sane civilization. For rites of passage, we’ve moved toward the only collective-agreed-upons we have: sports, education, work, Boy Scouts, and war. Coaches and drill sergeants, smoking and driving, money and merit badges, graduation and girlfriends have become our only mentors and rites of passage. They all have something to teach us, but no one is there to say "you must hear God in this," or "your soul is at stake here." That is the power of the "liminal" and transformative space called initiation.
Life will eventually initiate you anyway, but it might be too late or you might not comprehend the sacred significance of things while they are happening. Without initiation it is a disenchanted universe. All we can do is calculate and control because no one else is in control, at least no one we have met or can trust. An uninitiated man lives in an isolated body and a disconnected world. He must take personal responsibility for creating all the patterns and making all the connections—if there are any. It is an unwhole, incoherent, and finally unsafe world. No wonder the typical young man in our non-mythic culture spends so much time posturing, climbing, and overcompensating. In his heart he knows it is all not true—and therefore not sacred.

A truly initiated man, however, lives inside a sacred universe of meaning. Even the seemingly absurd, even the pain has meaning. Perhaps no world religion deals so directly and effectively with the issue of human suffering as healthy Christianity. The crucified and raised-up Jesus is an ultimate transformation-initiation symbol. The sacraments of initiation that were fittingly celebrated throughout Lent and the Easter Triduum were the liminal space that initiated new Christians and "re-initiated" the old into the sacred mysteries. Now, when I speak of the mysteries, some Christians seem not to know that there were any. This is the tragic result not only of centuries of non-initiated Christians, but of the lust for certitude and predictability that has characterized the Western church.

In general, initiation is much more about weaving a sacred cosmology of meaning than it is about specific moral principles. Ritual, it seems, speaks more to the unconscious and prepares us to receive conscious experiences. Thus, rites of passage as opposed to mere lectures on correct behavior; the assumption being that ritual holds together meaning, reconciles opposites, speaks to the unconscious, and finally transforms more than mere sermons or mandates. This is going to be a hard lesson for the Western mind, especially for much of Protestant Christianity.

For the man who has descended into the drowning waters and come up on the other side, for the initiate who has been in the belly of the whale and spit up on the shore, there is an ultimate new shape to the universe. It is re-enchanted, it now works in a way other than he expected, someone else is on his side, he is not alone, and the young man knows in his very bones that "my life is not about me." The initiate henceforth knows that something always has to die, and until you have lived through that dying, there is something essential that you do not know. It is always the false self that has to die, so that the Godself can be born. This is major surgery for the private and imperial ego, a surgery we all avoid if we can.
The best the initiate can do is discover and honor the patterns that are already there. They were there before him and will be there after he is gone. He is blessed not by reason of his private worthiness but because he is connected to what is. But the connection is nothing he can prove, which leaves him "as a pilgrim and stranger" in this world, and is probably why we use that strange word "faith." Normally, he spends much of the rest of his life trying to connect—in any way he can.

Secular Initiations -
War served as a partial kind of initiation for generations of men, teaching them self-discipline for the sake of the common good, self-sacrifice for something larger than themselves, awe before flags and anthems, well-nigh worship of country and ideology. And we must admit that this secular initiation did serve to relativize the imperial ego for the sake of a larger self.
We have found nothing to replace the larger than life meaning that men find in belonging to something larger than themselves. It takes away their roving anxiety and like a fig leaf, covers their primal shame. Death and resurrection are now glorified in war monuments instead of the self-effacing Paschal Mystery, and posthumous medals of honor are discussed with more tears than the lives of the Christian martyrs. Sports and celebrities are often the closest we can get to mythic status. In a culture that has lost a definition or expectation of heroes, we are satisfied with being well-known.
Initiation is about defining true and culturally significant heroism. It tells the young man what is worth suffering for and what is truly glorious to die for. War only serves as an effective initiation rite if the majority of a culture agrees that it is indeed "wonderful," which has more or less been the pattern in all of human history and why even religion could not stand against it.

However, it all fell apart for the Germans after World War II and for the Americans in Vietnam. Now there is nothing that we can get mythic about! What we have in post-Vietnam America is an entire country of older men falsely initiated into militarism and materialism, middle-aged men who were swindled of their only shot at significance, and many sad young men who do not believe that there are any sacred mysteries to be initiated into! No wonder we are deconstructing. We do not know what to do with our pain, and we know that most of our power is pseudo and worthless.

Can We Rebuild?
Is there anything to initiate young men into? Is there any agreed upon "wonderful"? These are the questions I am still asking, and I am only coming to partial conclusions. I offer these guidelines for rediscovery of some initiatory patterns that might work in our time and culture:
1. Private discovery of meaning is not enough. There has to be some collectively agreed upon "sacred." Institutional religion is not communicating this very well right now.
2. There must be a community that shares this meaning and that initiates with conviction and ongoing intent. It cannot just be a weekend high. I can see why we continue to return to some form of "church."
3. Initiation must be into something good and positive, not an ideology—against, in fear of, angry at, or needing to win over anybody else. It is movement into contemplative space where ongoing transformation can continue, not competitive space where I must continue to define and prove myself.
4. Ideally, there should be a somewhat long preparation and expectation for the young man. He must be prepared for this for at least a year by godfathers (a role that needs to be rediscovered), fathers, uncles, grandfathers, significant others.
5. What makes rituals powerful and effective is that they have been done by our ancestors and can be tied up with our archetypal imagery of The Great, The Good, The Holy. For most Westerners this is going to mean a very clear and comfortable ownership of their Judeo-Christian symbols of transformation. These can and should be complemented by some local, natural rituals that can be created by the godfathers and initiators. Great archetypal symbols cannot be created anew on a weeklong outing.
6. The ideal age is somewhere between 13 and 16, hopefully contiguous with church confirmation, bar mitzvah, or tribal circumcision; knowing that while much might go over their heads, the transition and cosmology will stick and has a chance of becoming their mythic universe of meaning. When the real wounding happens in the middle of life, he will have been forewarned, "vaccinated" with the cross.
7. During the ritual days, it is central that an intimate connection happens between the boys and the older men—from which mutual love and respect can emerge, plus new status and responsibility in the community. Rights only follow from these relationships and responsibilities! They will know that your mythic universe is not serious if rights are cheaply given without accountability.
8. Neither the father and mother, nor any of the initiators, ask the boy’s permission if he "wants" to do this. The ideal attitude is that it is expected and to be desired, which must start some years before and eventually exist as a tradition within the family. This lack of "a tradition of expectation" is much of our problem today, but we have to stick together long enough to create a history for ourselves.
9. All initiation rites have a character of secretiveness, both to create necessary anxiety and interest beforehand, and to free from the impossibility of explaining everything afterward. Except in general terms of time and place, don’t tell them a lot beforehand, except what they need to bring and who will be there. Afterward, as Heinrich Zimmer says, "the best things cannot be talked about."
10. Finally, you can only give away what you have. If the fathers have not gone through significant spiritual passages themselves, they really have nothing to say to the young men. It will descend into mere parody, nervous male humor, or strained symbolization. The boys might even like it, but it will not announce an alternative universe. When my generation arrogantly asserted that we would not trust anybody over 30, we were only half wrong. Our attitude was harsh, but our recognition was correct—most men formed in the first half of this century in America were not a part of an alternative universe. They bought the system as it was—and went to church somewhere on the side.

So What About Us?
You should now be asking the right questions: How do I get initiated myself? What are the essential "mysteries" that must be communicated?
Initiation is always about transforming: holding out for win-win, both-and, turning pain into power. Very few of us are well taught in this area, even the clergy who often see themselves as problem solvers instead of agents of transformation, as careerists instead of prophets of an alternative consciousness.

I think it is into this vacuum that the modern men’s movements have come. Whether you agree with their message or style is not the important first question. Men are looking for spiritual experience, they are trying to submit themselves to "godfathers" in a country with very few of them. They are at least recognizing the need and the problem, and we do little good for them by simply dismissing and debunking them without offering a positive alternative for them. The steps to maturity are necessarily immature and the wise ones are always willing to wait.

Maybe your task is to read, study, pray, and suffer for a while. Remember, God and life will initiate you anyway. You just have to be expectant and ready. Maybe this little article is enough to get you on the path.

As for the essential messages, I have gleaned these from my cross-cultural observations. Somehow, male initiation must communicate the following to the young man:
Life Is Hard
If you can be convinced of this early in life and not waste time trying to avoid it or making it easy for yourself, you will ironically have much less useless suffering in the long run. Because we avoid the legitimate pain of being human, we bring upon ourselves much longer, meaningless, and desperate pain.
You Are Going to Die
The certainty and reality of one’s own death must be made very real. The young man must live as one who has already died "the first death" and is not protecting himself from the second. This is seen in the traditional Christian baptismal teaching: "Do you not know that you who were baptized were baptized into the dying of Christ?" (Romans 6:3). One’s death must be ritualized through trials, facing loss and one’s fear of loss, and symbolic drowning of the baptized. Now we are unpracticed and unprepared for loss of any kind. "Suffering," the Buddha says, "is part of the deal."
You Are Not That Important
Cosmic and personal humility is of central importance for truth and happiness in this world. The initiate must be rightly situated in a world that demands respect from him, or he will have an inflated-deflated sense of himself that will need continual reassurance. This is almost the complete contrary of the post-modern "I am special" button. Littleness is nothing to be denied or disguised, but gives a basis for all community, family, and service.
You Are Not in Control
The illusion of control must be surrendered by a deep experience of one’s own powerlessness. Usually only suffering accomplishes this task, especially unjust suffering and things that one cannot change. Reality and God are in control, and we will normally not accept this until led to the limits of our own resources.
Your Life Is Not About You
This is the essential and summary experience. You must know that you are a part of something and somebody much bigger than yourself. Your life is not about you, it is about God. Henceforward, the entire human experience takes on a dramatically different character. We call it holiness.

IF THESE SEEM rather negative or even wrong to you, it might be a statement of how deeply we have been formed in the soft and individualistic ethos of the recent West. For all of its advances in technology and human rights, it has not found a way to integrate the private individual into a larger and healthy society. That larger and healthy society is precisely the work of initiation—without sacrificing the importance and dignity of the individual person.

The goal of initiation rites, and healthy religion, is to situate and align the individual correctly in the universe. Such alignment is the foundation for a deep and enduring human dignity, a dignity that the young man can now see in everything and everybody else, because it is not his own. It is ours.

Religious people might describe that as belonging to God. Jesus might have described it "as the peace that the world cannot give" (John 14:27) and the "joy that no one can take from you" (John 16:22). It cannot be taken from you or even given to you, because it is no longer based on you. It just is. And it is good.

RICHARD ROHR, OFM, The seeds of this material can be found in his books From Wild Man To Wise Man (St. Anthony Messenger Press.

A report on the 2008 conference on the College Male at St. John’s University, Collegeville MN.

Submitted by Rick Dietz

Background – for several years St. John’s University and St. Benedict’s College engaged in a program along with many other universities and colleges to design and implements Programs for Theological Exploration of Vocation (PTEV).  This was a Lilly Funded project.  For more on the PTEV program you can visit www.ptev.org.  This year’s conference at St. John’s University was entitled Conference on the College Male -- Calling College Men: Identity, Professions and Leadership for the Common Good.  Much of the conference sessions were focused on the problem of the gender imbalance in the college PTEV programs.  Based on the research females far outnumbers males in attending these programs.  While Lilly allowed the universities/colleges to determine what they meant by “Theological reflection” and “vocation”, it was obvious Lilly was interested in the programs and the results to see if it were possible to make jobs in religious institutions more appealing to college students today.
 
My Findings:  Having attended as many of the sessions as possible which dealt with Men and Spirituality/Religion I’ve come to the following conclusions:
 
·    The academic world is beginning to see the need and offer programs to help the college male take a long look at what it means to be male and masculine.
o       They are looking through the academic lens of Psychology, Anthropology, and Leadership.
§         Universities and colleges are beginning to offer “Men’s Studies” courses and are leaning to offering minors or majors in gender studies which encompass both men and women. (I have to stress the word “beginning”)
§         Unfortunately what I heard from professors who where presenters at the conference, it seemed the reason for offering these classes were to try to temper/change the male, so that he would be tamer to society.
§         The question I found myself asking at the end of these presentations was – why is it that the women who take women’s studies courses find themselves liberated and empowered, while the men taking “men’s studies” classes feel they have to be tamed/castrated?  What does this say about the male of our species?
 
·              I attended several sessions that were supposed to put together the issues of male/masculinity and spirituality.  I discovered that the presenters were really struggling with this.  Most of the presenters where college men who were helping with the spirituality side of these PTEV programs.  They stated how hard it was to get guys to come to the sessions and even harder to get them to stay with the group.
o       One presenter was a Benedictine priest from a university in North Dakota who offered a “Masculine Spirituality” class.  Part way through the presentation a person in the audience asked him if he ever talked about the divine in his class?  His answer was “no”.  His class dealt with many of the “men’s issues” but he never interjected any Theology/Spirituality into his class.
 
·              Conclusions -- These presentations indicated to me that the academic world of the college men was unable or unwilling to put masculinity and spirituality together.  I was very sad as the conference was ending.  Evidently Richard Rohr and some of the other masculine spirituality writers were not academic enough for the college professors to read or use in their courses.  I got the feeling most of the professors who offered classes were not from the Theology department, and therefore were not interjecting theology or spirituality into there classes.  Even the one monk who taught a class from the Theology Department didn’t mention God in his class at all.
 
We as initiated men appear to be on the cutting edge of the masculine spirituality movement.  I believe how we integrate the masculine and spiritual into our daily lives will become the standard for future men.  If we do it well – great.  If we do it poorly…
 
Submitted by Rick Dietz, Saint Cloud MN.  (3/7/2008)