Danny's Men's Studies

Fred Reed's "Playing at Adventure" article gives hints into manhood but of the worldly kind. He points out:

We [men] just do not domesticate well. While male behavior is perhaps no more inherently absurd than female, it has little application to the suburbs and bureaucratic salt mines.

The world today, the modern parts anyway, is very much a woman’s world. It will become more so. The economy values orderliness, routine, and avoidance of waves. It needs patient people who will do the assembly-line work of huge offices whirring with air-conditioning. Women are better at this. I’m not sure that they really like it, but they handle it well.

Women want security, comfort, nice houses and nice cars. Men eventually feel cramped by them.

Unfortunately, being a wild man (aka godless version of "Wild at Heart") is all he seems to offer. And most men do turn to his "wild side," be it putting on the greens or avidly following a football game. Why? I guess we men want some sort of unpredictable discovery, even if it isn't new any more, like climbing Mount Everest or watching the Superbowl.

As I have posted elsewhere, I realized that I was treating the sermons as my source of intellectual discovery -- the main reason for my hanging around a church. However, it isn't enough for most men and they stay away from church by the droves. Now I'm not advocating that churches promote "wild things" just to grab men since it misses the point: men need a place to be real men. What is that might look like is what this blog is all about. Come back again for more of my thoughts!