Becoming Complete Men

What an amazing experience it was to have men of all ages speaking into each other’s lives. And what made it even more incredible is that it happened on a women’s talk show. Sometimes extraordinary circumstances are required for extraordinary things to take place. In this case incredible things took place as we as a group spoke into each others’ lives, challenged one another, and then left as better men than when we came. It was interesting to see the continuity of thought between all of the age groups represented on this panel. And it was intensely insightful to use poetic tools, to hear from different vantage points and ultimately different perspectives on the same issues facing men.

These two topics – of struggle and relationships – are not separate; they’re intensely interwoven, in that without meaningful relationships at the right time, we are struggling alone. In the same way, often our struggles can make us feel isolated, as though we can’t trust others.

For myself, the most intense and fulfilling part of this whole episode was when we took time to speak into each other’s lives. I think this is paramount for men of all ages to experience. Often men are set up to compete with one another as opposed to complement one another in our areas of giftings.  This is crucial for the upbringing of good men. Words of affirmation like this bring out the good in the end and begin to cultivate and set the stage for great men to appear. Our world, our culture, and our community are in need of those building blocks of healthy and complete men.

Needless to say that as we experience the title, See Hear Love,  these simple actions have had great impact and will have a lasting effect on my life and those that I have in close proximity.

Blessings,
– Shawn Naylor