The Masculine Journey is not something that John Eldredge just came up with. He has given names to the stages that are seen in the lives of Biblical men. He shares briefly about both David and Jesus, and how these stages are seen in their lives. This is something that goes back thousands of years. Ever since men have walked the earth, they have been on this journey. There have always been some who have done this well, and others who have failed. But the more advanced we get as a society, the worse we seem to do about this. The farther we get from the beginning, the farther from Eden, the more corrupt and selfish people seem to be.
We were made to walk through these stages, and we see them everywhere. John points out a few movies, The Prince of Egypt, The Lord of the Rings, and The Lion King. To them I would add Batman Begins, Brave Heart, and Second Hand Lions. There are others in addition to these that show men at different parts of the journey. Some do it well, and some fail. But in all of these something is stirred within us, knowing that we were made for something more.
"Thus our journey of masculine initiation. Now, we don't know much about stages of development in our instant culture. We have someone else make our coffee for us. We no longer have to wait to have our photos developed... We don't have to wait to get in touch with someone... We don't need to wait for our leather jackets or our jeans or caps to age to get that rugged look - they come that way now, prefaded, tattered. Character that can be bought and worn immediately. But God is a God of process. If you want an oak tree, he has you start with an acorn... If you want a man, you must begin with the boy. God ordained the stages of masculine development. They are woven into the fabric of our being, just as the laws of nature are woven into the fabric of the earth."
We have to realize that this will take time. This will take effort. This will require something of us. We are going to be tested. But the character that is developed will be earned. It will mean something. It will have real value. And this is something we desperately need.
"The result of having abandoned masculine initiation is a world of unfinished, uninitiated men. But it doesn't have to be this way. We needn't wander in a fog. We don't have to live alone, striving, sulking, uncertain, angry. We don't have to figure life out for ourselves. There is another way. Wherever we are in the journey, our initiation, can begin in earnest."
We have a map, we have a heading. Let's break camp and move out. This journey will not be easy, but we are in this together, and we will emerge on the other side, Men of God.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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