NOTE: I am grateful for The Good Men Project allowing this “preacher man” and those of none or other faiths to have a voice at the table. Everyone’s story matters!
A March article in the Boston globe garnered a lot of attention headlining that “the biggest threat facing middle-age men isn’t smoking or obesity. It’s loneliness.” The post resonated with many men because we know it’s true! As children, we made the much needed connections with ease but as we’ve grown up we’ve also grown apart.
In a world of mass connectivity, you would think that we would be having more meaningful conversations, but the fact is, even in our spiritual circles and churches, we are NOT connecting in real ways.
One of the reasons we may feel incomplete in the “love department” is because God intended for us to find His FULL expression of love from each other and that includes other men.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” 1 John 4:11-12
For years we have been afraid to be transparent with other men because of the social, cultural or even “Christian” restrictions we have encountered along the way. We’ve developed relationships that keep each other at arms distance and absent from the heart. A relationship like the one between David and Jonathan are merely stories of old not healthy experiences to be shared and told. To not be involved in each others’ lives means we will not ever participate in God’s full expression of love on this side of Heaven.
Men: We need each other. We can’t do this alone. We need to talk to about our feelings. We need to stand up and share our fears, our failures, and our dreams. I don’t care how vulnerable that feels at first. It will get easier with time. It’s time we grow up and stop letting our fears and insecurities define us. I don’t know about you, but I am done with feeling numb and disconnected. That is not the man I want to be in the world. That is not the man I truly am.” Dan Mahle
The Good Men Project wants to make these real conversations available every day of the week to people around the globe. Conversations about politics, parenting, news, gender & sexuality, racism, ethics, sexism, wellness, relationships, spirituality, and more. They’re calling it “participatory media.”
In the Fall of 2016, The Good Men Project beta-tested an idea called “Social Interest Groups”. They started holding conference calls every day of the week. They talked about the difficult, provocative, fascinating topics they had before, but this time, they really talked about them, in one-hour group phone calls moderated by trained leaders. It’s different than other media. The real, human, voice interactions are extraordinary. People feel compelled to really listen to others, and talk respectfully.
The Good Men Project is re-inventing media and you can help be a part of helping men connect in a real way. FIND OUT MORE HERE.
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This article originally appeared on Masculinity Rethink
Photo credit: Getty Images