Calling men out of the cave

They cut David Livingstone’s heart out because it belonged to Africa. Where would they bury your heart? Jonathan tried something great, outrageous and impossible, but he needed someone with him. His armour bearer responded to his ‘plan’. ‘Do all that is in your heart, go then, here I am with your, according to your heart’. When men change, the world changes but men need the love of God, a close band of brothers to be real with, and a cause greater than themselves.

Alexander the Great had a simple military formation called ‘The Macedonian Phalanx’. It was a straightforward mandate: You never go into battle without the man beside you’. With his shield in his left hand, and his sword in his right, a soldier thrusting forward with his blade, could find his right side exposed, vulnerable to the enemy’s spear or sword. In the Macedonian formation, the warrior had a trusted man guarding the area where he was most exposed. Who has your most vulnerable area covered? Who fights for your heart?

In this book I want to address father absence, but if I could ‘go shout it on the mountain top, I would want the echo to be heard as ‘Come out of your caves, Church is not a spectator sport’. Western culture and the Church must bring back initiation rites of passage for young men and the Church is need of mature mentors and spiritual fathers, to provide men with the camaraderie they long for, and to attempt something great together’. Here’s hoping someone out there hears the echo…