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In the summer of 2000 I was flown to Seattle by a company promoting some new military simulations. The event was held on Nov. 11th, US veterans day, and one of the simulations was of MiGs and F86 Sabres in the Korean war. So they invited Major General "Boots" Blesse (retired 1986) to tell us about his experiences flying the Sabre in Korea.
Boots is probably the most decorated air force officer in history. He has about 150 medals including six DFCs (distinguished flying cross).
He told us some funny stories, some touching ones, and some terrifying ones. He told all with great humor, grace and humility. He isn't a believer.
But he was an officer who SERVED. He fulfilled his calling with courage, humor, and integrity. He mentored many along the way. He is a leader and a father and a man of vision .. a warrior, an officer and a gentleman.
On the airplane to Seattle I had been reading in Robert Hicks and Robert Bly.. on men, warriors and wounding. The week before.. during worship actually.. the Lord told me that we have failed to "honor the wound."
As Boots began his talk I was thinking about the coming men's retreat (Nov.12-14) and warriors. I realized it was an odd "coincidence" that I was listening to a true warrior. I felt the Lord tap me on the shoulder...listen up!
As I listened and observed him I knew that this man walked in the authority of blessing. "All authority comes from God." He served. He fulfilled the call on his life, without knowing its author. He gave of himself for a transcendent cause (politics aside). He had fought, and lost, and grieved, and won. He survived and went on from strength to strength.
After his talk I had a chance to sit and chat with him. I told him what I do and that I grew up in an Air Force family. I asked him some questions, and listened to another story or two.
When we finished he signed the book he had written, and then there was a photo session. I had my picture taken with him in front of an F86 Sabre, his personal favorite among the combat aircraft he had flown. Afterward he shook my hand, slapped me on the back and said, "Len, I wish you success in whatever you do."
* * * *
I was touched and blessed. I felt honored by this man. I found myself asking what it is to be honored by a father of fathers, by an old warrior. To be honored is to receive honor... where there is honor to give. I felt I had received a blessing from the Father through Boots. I hadn't come looking for it or expecting it but there it was.
I felt that it was literally as though spiritual food, spiritual grace, had been transferred to me through this man. I recall a poem by Yates that represents something of the authority of older men to bless the younger. As he writes this Yates is in the prime of his life. In Jung's term he is a "differentiated" man. He knows who he is.
My fiftieth year had come and gone,
While on the shop and street I gazed,
* * * *
Now I have to try and explain this a bit more. This might all be very obvious to you, or it might be very strange. But I'll do my best.
Please understand that it is my heart to release women into all the father has for them. But sometimes there are real differences in perspective between men and women.. I'm not sure how to bridge that understanding, but I'll just share what I can.
In our culture there is no place for the warrior anymore. Neither do we really have much respect for authority. Our world is almost finished with kings and queens - figures of authority who were not chosen by the people, but who had authority passed down to them.. as if from above.
But first think of the warrior. In our culture women largely have defined men's roles. And men themselves look to women to tell them who they are.
Who else can they look to? They didn't have great relationships with their own fathers, so either their fathers didn't affirm them as men (passive neglect), or they have rejected their fathers completely because of active abuse.
But how can a man reject his own flesh? In order to reject my father I must reject a part of myself. We have a serious problem here. And it pushes us toward the feminine.
In fact, even in the most respected Christian counseling books (like Kamisky) I am told that in order to be a whole man I have to discover and accept my feminine side.
Problem: what if I don't have a feminine side? What if in fact the so-called feminine characteristics of gentleness and sensitivity are in fact equally masculine?
I believe we move toward our ideals (the bible says we "become what we worship"). So what if the ideal of wholeness in God's image for a man is not in fact a balanced masculine feminine personality, but a wholly male being which incorporates its own version of some of the qualities we currently label as "feminine?"
I believe that the so called feminine qualities have their echo in male experience, but they look and feel different. They have a different color for us; like our voices, they are deeper.. we sing in a different key.
Men who are trying to discover their feminine sides have been misled, and subtly what they are really doing is rejecting some essential qualities of maleness. Sometimes this rejection is rooted in a broken relationship with significant males in their life. Haven't rejected a significant male (usually a father), they reject something essential about themselves.
In our culture being male has become suspect. First, males have too much testosterone... we have aggressive tendencies. That is scary for women. Understandably so.
But in rejecting aggression, the baby often goes out with the bath water. Our culture rejects the warrior.
One writer in this area says that there are two kinds of fighting men: soldiers and warriors. Soldiers don't know what they are fighting for: they simply love the battle. Warriors, on the other hand, count the cost.
"Never give a man a sword til he's learned how to dance" - Irish proverb.
First, a man must be a lover, then he can learn to fight. First he must learn what is really valuable, to the extent he is ready to die for something. First he must be a servant; he must have subjected himself to a cause greater than himself. This is true freedom.
This kind of man isn't a threat to women. This kind of man.. the true warrior, is not only NOT a threat to women. Without this kind of man, women will never find freedom!
This kind of man is a refuge for women. This kind of man provides safety for men and women alike. And he stands against all kinds of oppression - whether social (injustice) or spiritual (manipulation, witchcraft, and the enemy).
True warriors are lacking today. Men aren't taking the places they are called to take. Many who would take these places are deeply wounded; the enemy has taken them out. Others don't know their own names (the name hidden on a rock). They haven't discovered their destinies. Some are still less than conscious in this area. But we also have many men on their way to this destination. When they discover who they are and get healed.. look out!
Our culture values the neutered man, the soft man, the man who has rejected a part of himself. And yes, this is the kind of man most churches value as leaders.
Back to authority. We have massive problems with rejection of authority in the church in general. Too often authority has been wielded like a blunt instrument, instead of with grace and love. Too often it has been wielded by wounded warriors who don't know they are wounded; they haven't first learned how to dance.
When our culture rejected the warrior we also rejected authority. Authority was too closely tied to the patriarchy. It was too greatly abused. So we hung up our swords.
The problem is.. without authority we have anarchy. Without godly authority, authority that is rooted in faith and love, we have no fathers.
God the father stands behind fathering, just as God the Warrior stands behind warriors. All this comes down from above, and we only weakly reflect that which is from above.
When our culture rejected the excesses of patriarchy (because the patriarchy had become demonic... it had lost connection with God) it created a vacuum in the souls of humankind. And in that dark hole hide demons who whisper in the soul of every man who would be a true warrior that there is something wrong with warrior energy. Or that "you aren't a real man anyway."
As a result, men fear to walk in the authority that God gives. And until we are freed to walk as redeemed warriors, the church will never rise up to be what God desires. And neither will women ever discover their full authority. All our destinies are tied together... "who is weak but I am not weak?" We truly are a body. When one suffers, all suffer.
Men tend to flee from their wounds and retreat into isolation. But the place where we are wounded is an opportunity to encounter God. Remember Jacob's wrestling with the angel?
If we don't deal with our wounds, we miss an essential encounter. And we try to rise toward the light without seeing our own shadow. We don't do the grief work. Men aren't good with grief.. and especially in charismatic circles, its tough. We're supposed to be joyful always, right? (Even though Jesus was also "the man of sorrows.." and "wounded for our transgressions.)
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Articles and Online Resources
Related Websites: the Masculine Journey (John Eldridge)
Books
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Emerging Women / Renovare / Christians for Biblical Equality / Soul Horizon / OpenSource Theology / Jesus Radicals / Regeneration / New Phuture / The Off Ramp / Society for Kingdom Living / Cutting Edge / Relevant Magazine / Shoot the Messenger / Vine and Branches / Sacred Future / Tribal Generation / Reality / Waves Church / Matthew's House / Praxis / Post Boomer / FutureChurch / MethodX / TheOOZE / ginkworld / ::seven:: / emergent village / Highway Video / emerging church / Sojourners / Ship of Fools / Beyond / Next-Wave / Small Fire / ThePowerSurge / dtour
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• © 2005 Len Hjalmarson.•
Last Updated on September 9, 2005
