The Battle for a Man's Heart
As we began discussing Chapter 5, we talked about some "trail markers" of the condition of our hearts:
Trail Markers
1. The assault on a man continues through his life, and its effect is emasculation.
2. That assault is far more premeditated than most of us thought.
3. The result is a famished craving in the soul - our desperate desire for validation as a man.
4. We take our search many places, but eventually we all take it to the Woman.
Most agreed with the advice he gave his son, saying that they would have said the same thing. This brought up the very relevant issue of the way boys are viewed and treated nowadays at school, and the speed at which they are labeled "add" or "adhd" (this was touched on in Chapter 1).
We talked about a revelation that Eldridge had about the effect a beautiful woman had on a man, and how women are used in anything that companies want to market to men. He realized that The Beauty is "The grand prize if you are truly a man."
We talked about attacks on our strength - at work, at home, at Church, in our everyday lives. This led down a path some men are uncomfortable doing down...is it ok for men to cry? Not just during a war movie or Old Yeller, I mean really let your emotions out. The majority responded with it is definitely not just ok, but healthy. We talked about being masculine vs. macho.
We ended by talking about the last part of the chapter, about validation. Where do we get our validation as a man from? The woman in our lives? Our work? Our friends? Our God?
Were do you look to for validation?
Last thought:
"Christianity should bring about change in you, not convict you to act the same."
NEXT WEEK: CHAPTER SIX: THE FATHER'S VOICE
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