Wild At Heart

If you have any men or boys in your life...Dad, husband, son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend...you should consider reading this book. John Eldredge, the author, director of Ransomed Heart Ministries and blogger, is the husband of Stasi and the father of sons; his is a good perspective from which to write this book. Like all books, if you're a Christian, you need to decide if and where the author deviates from Scripture. I am the first to admit, authors such as Eldredge and Voskamp of A Holy Experience, differ from my very traditional and very conservative view of God, yet I am open to reading and considering what they say. I can always learn, especially when I am the center and they score a direct hit. Some critics do  not write glowing reviews of Wild at Heart; you be your own judge and critic. 

Like all good books, this one is marked with highlight pens - yellow, green, pink, orange - when I want need to remember something or visit again.

For example, this section is highlighted in yellow, "But you can't escape it-there is something wild in the heart of every man." 

I believe this to be true; especially when I see the little boys of today, taught curbed on every hand to, "stop running before you get hurt", "don't play so hard", "be nice", etc. What if they do fall down and skin their knees? Isn't that what knees are for, to break the fall? I fear for the men of tomorrow when I see the boys of today. I fear for the women of tomorrow when I consider they'll be the ones to marry those same boy men. Stop killing the wild in their little hearts; teach them to be adventurers, rescuers, men!

From the book: "I want to be Isabo in Ladyhawk," confessed another female friend. "To be cherished, pursued, fought for-yes. But also, I want to be strong and a part of the adventure. ...A woman doesn't want to be the adventure; she wants to be caught up into something greater than herself. ... I know myself and I know I'm not the adventure. So when a man makes me the point, I get bored immediately. I know that story. Take me into one I don't know." Do you think this is where a lot of men, and women, miss the point? A lot of woman think she wants to be the adventure but I believe she's wrong. Ever since Eden, we crave to be part of the adventure yet we've allowed ourselves to forget our beginnings. 

There are a lot of men and women, sitting in offices and cubicles, standing as check-out clerks, who are running out the clock while wondering what and why. I think urban folks have more problems with this concept than do those of us who live on farms and are faced with life and death on a daily basis. For us, life nor death is wrapped in plastic wrap and tied with a bow. We don't have to wait until someone dies so we can peer down at their lifeless body in a casket. We look out the window, we ride down the valley, we see the vultures soaring overhead, the bodies in the fields. Life is now, life is real and all too short. (I would say tweet this except I know nothing of such things laughing at myself.)

There's a six year old boy in my life who, this past autumn, shot his first ten point buck. Yes, this boy handled a rifle, scoped out the deer, shot and killed the deer then, he and his Dad, took the deer home where they skinned it, wrapped it and put it in the freezer. Most urban folks don't have a clue what that means, here or for the future, and a lot of women reading this are thinking, "OMG, what idiot would let their six year old child handle a gun?" That's the point...a wise father teaches his child right from wrong, teaches him how to use equipment (vehicles, tractors, ATV's, guns, wood working tools, etc.) safely. All those things are merely tools and used for good or bad...depending upon training. That's the point...a wise father is still around, he's not abandoned his family nor his duties and has accepted responsibility for raising wise children. 

Dave blessed Cathy, his first wife, and me by being such a man. He was a man's man and soared when given the time, space and approval. Our lives were filled with adventure - buying this decrepit farm and fixing it up, traveling to Russia, Armenia, Morocco and other far flung places. He gave me permission (so very important!) then urged me to go while giving me the means to travel on my own to Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Austria and other places. We had each other's backs and took each other into stories we didn't even know we owned. 

So YOU: Stop running out the clock and simply using up oxygen. You've got a purpose; a huge, ginormous, God-given purpose and you're not going to be happy until you figure out what He wants from you. Stop the running around, playing at being happy and focus. If you're around 40 years of age, you're middle age. Do you need a moment to take that in?

Go ahead, consider middle age.

I'm 60, newly, and for me that light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train; it's the Shekinah glory and I'm bound and determined to live LIVE with intention and purpose. Granted, I'm still figuring it out but to know I've got a purpose is a huge beginning. Especially in light of Dave passing away a year and half ago; in those early months it was all I could do to stay alive. To be at this point, to know I've got a purpose, again, is a major, major step. 

This thing called life is a great adventure; in Dave's funeral program, Dawn blessed me by doing Sabbath Keeping and quoted, "To die must be an awfully big adventure", which is from J. M. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. That's the next great adventure; in the meantime, this current adventure has my full attention.

Blessings ~ purpose ~ goals ~ Dave ~ adventures ~ Eldredge ~ Peter Pan ~