Mentoring Our Boys –

John Eldridge, in Wild at Heart, sums it up:

Masculinity is bestowed. A boy learns who he is and what he’s got from a man, or the company of men. He cannot learn it any other place. He cannot learn it from other boys, and he cannot learn it from the world of women. The plan from the beginning of time was that his father would lay the foundation for a young boy’s heart, and pass on to him that essential knowledge and confidence in his strength.

It’s a simple and basic concept. The best football coaches are football players. The most qualified math teachers are mathematicians.

For manhood mentoring – boys need men!

The converse of this idea – need I say it? Let’s go to the experts again. Gary Smalley and John Trent put it like this, “… the logical conclusion of excluding our sons from our lives is that they pick up a feminized version of masculinity from Mom or a distorted image of manhood from peers.” And James Dobson offers a quote that, taken out of context, would get me in trouble again. “The truth is, Dad is more important than Mom.” You see, put in proper context, we find Dr. Dobson says, “In my opinion (and in the opinion of an increasing number of researchers), the father plays an essential role in a boy’s normal development as a man.” He concludes, “Mothers make boys. Fathers make men.” I say … actually, I’ve gotten into enough trouble; I think I’ll defer my comment.

Posted on December 18th, 2007 by Jeff Purkiss
Filed under: Fathering/Mentoring