part 3 of 3. Final post in this series.
Mature Male: The next Hebrew term on our list is one that separates the men from the boys. Here we see the male that rules over his own spirit. The Hebrew word ‘ish is reflecting a man as the ruler of his own soul. He is living independent of the outside influences of his surroundings. This is the guy who is his own man. This guy knows exactly who he really is and what he is all about. This guy stands alone but in essence is not alone. Now men, understand this, a man cannot become the ruler of his own soul until he has experienced some wounding. It is the wounded man that can begin to rule with some acquired wisdom and not reach to the voices enticing him to do something contrary. The phallic male and the warrior are prone to error but the mature male due to a process of wounding has a new perspective on life. The mature male begins to listen to God and hear Him more clearly. The mature male can also lean more on his internal values and his conscience. This man has no more fear of going against the grain to do what he wants to do and what he thinks God wants him to do. He is becoming more integrated with his core values. Guys, this is a very important part of our male experience. Some males get here and some males do not. For the guys that don’t make it here life is stagnant and souls are dead. Life only gets more exciting for the males that move into the “mature male” season. This will lead to your greatest achievements and contributions to society.
Sage Male: This is the last stop on the journey where we look at the Hebrew word for elder. The word is zaken and is the word in the Proverbs used earlier. The word means, “gray headed” but its usage will normally reflect the wise mentor or sage. This man is connected totally to life and making his finest contributions to his community. This is a man that is imparting his wisdom to the younger men. To sit in a circle of sages should be the lifelong endeavor of the young men. It is unfortunate that our society has reduced the sages of today to old men in hiding because they have been scorned or miss treated. The image of the elderly male today is the guy sitting in the nursing home waiting to die. The gray hair is not for covering up with Grecian Formula and should be worn in honor by all men. It is an important part of the journey. It is the final destination! It’s where we complete our trip and it’s where the celebration should begin.
Many men live in several of these positions at the same time. It is almost impossible to be a sage without experiencing war and some wounds. Wisdom is always the byproduct of experiencing life and as a general rule that experience that builds wisdom is usually negative.
We will always remain somewhat creational. That is what we feel as our bodies begin to age and the aches and pains come along with deterioration. The phallus does not go away with age, use, or non-use. I am in my late 50’s and I can tell you with all certainty that I am still very phallic. Not like I was at 20 but still very phallic. I still dream like a warrior at times and yes I have been wounded. I have been wounded a lot. I have been wounded by churches and my most trusted friends. I have been wounded by broken promises and by institutions along the road of life. I hope my wisdom has increased because of it all.
This has been an overview of what I learned from Dr. Hick’s book. I hope doing this blog entry helps more men understand their feelings and where they are in life’s journey across the landscape and why. I hope my fellow men realize that wounding is a normal process of manhood and will help us to gain wisdom. This is the last post of this introductory series on this topic. I desire going into more detail on each of these six stops on the road to manhood. It is likely I will do a series of posts on each one. Look down the road for the first set which will be on “The Creational Male”.
For now, carry on men… The Creational Male is actually The Noble Savage and is ready. You can link to it by clicking here. Go to The Noble Savage. Stage one.
God bless you all,
“The Tubthumper”
