The Boy Within by Glenn McClure

In his book Fathered By God (Way of the Wild Heart) John Eldredge writes (about the stages of initiation) “And the man, though now a king in a far more serious manner, must never lose the wonder of the boy, that condition we call young at heart.  For by maturity we do not mean rigidity, calcification of the heart.  As George MacDonald said, ‘The boy should enclose and keep, as his life, the child at the heart of him, and never let it go…the child is not meant to die, but to be for ever fresh-born.’ Jesus spoke to this when he said we must become like a child if we would live in his kingdom (Matt 18:3).”  Wow!

The child within is “to be for ever fresh-born!”  Recovering and holding on to the wonder of the boy within is what we are after as men and sons of the Father.  This is how we continue in the unlearning of self-protection and where we remember and discover anew the child we are in Christ!

As men, we need many opportunities to take ourselves out of our normal routines and put ourselves in a context and place where we can unplug, play and be fresh-born…again.

We must, along with the Scriptures and the church “disciple” our boys out in creation, where we can train, develop, and continue to mold them into holy young men that are learning how to walk and talk with God their perfect Father.

Masculine spirituality calls us out into the wild–with the Creator– where the Holy Spirit can transform us as we are taken to the Father through the finished work of Jesus His son.

Celebrating the wonder of our boys and calling out what is in their hearts in a masculine and spiritual way is what we are after as Fathers of sons.  There is a wonderful, mysterious beauty to all of this…praise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!