Written for the High Plains Journal
In this very column on Oct 7, 2022, I started with this statement:
We need to celebrate the masculine man in the eyes of God—I am talking about that father, husband and working man that contributes to society and provides for his family.
So I ask you, how are we, as a nation, doing on this front two years later? I reckon if it were a class in school, we would get a failing grade. People are now trying to convince us that a man can have a baby. Probably even worse is what happened at the recent Olympics where a man thinks it is somehow fitting to enter the women’s boxing match and pound on a woman. Nothing manly about that.
I learned about being a man from the men in my life, my father and my grandfather. I grew up every day working along side of them, talking about life with them and envisioning how to shape the future. I believe it is a huge role for the father or the man of the house to teach your children that life is not fair, but you don’t sit back and whine about it. You figure out how to shape it so you can flourish.
The reason I wrote the column about men in the eyes of God back in 2022 is because I organized a Man March on Columbus Day of 2022. In the past couple weeks, there has been a roar from folks who participated in that first one, talking about the need to have another one.
So, the Man March 2024 is on the books. This year we are making it a 3-day event in three locations with the final gathering on Sunday morning Sept. 24 in Mandan, ND.
When I got to thinking about why folks are reaching out to me about the need to have another Man March, I went searching the ultimate source for the inspiration and the Bible shares it in Proverbs 27-17:
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
We cannot do this task in isolation; we need one another.
Day 1 will kick off in the Black Hills of South Dakota on Friday evening Sept 20. Day 2 will be in Medora, ND and then Sunday morning we will be back in Mandan. Each location will include marching through town but the gathering place will occur in a Cathedral of Creation. Folks, we have swayed so far from the basics of what God has told us we need to do that there comes a time when the horse you have working with you as a partner needs to go back to the round pen for some groundwork. We, as men working in the eyes of God, need to go back to the round corral for some groundwork.
Genisis 1:
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God has given us every opportunity we could ask for as a man in today’s world. Our complete complacency in following through with what is right has allowed space for the distractions that have come to the forefront. I so clearly remember the day about 20 years ago when I learned that 42% of the childbirths were to single mothers, and that statistic has only gotten worse. Folks, that is often the man’s fault and that is why little boys and girls are not growing up with a male influence in their life.
I will close with a statement from Zane Grey about the Code of the West; it is basically the same message my father shared with me on a regular basis.
No matter how weary and hungry you are after a long day in the saddle, always tend to your horse’s needs before your own, and get your horse some feed before you eat.
If you really think about what that means, it goes way beyond your horse; it is about life. You should always put your responsibility to others ahead of your own needs, that includes giving the Glory to God. I look forward to seeing you in September in the Cathedral of Creation.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/09/03/giant-wyoming-carbon-capture-project-pulls-plug-for-lack-of-clean-power/
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check this out.Tremt. So remember Gates met with Gordon on Capital steps to discuss nuclear power plant near Cheyenne..
yikes...this is so serious. Thanks for staying on top of all of this paytoplay/slay as schema.
victoria
hey Trent...
sooo thought the Code of the West was in book Cowboy Ethics by James P.Owen as they are Wyoming's official state code as of March 3rd, 2010. I trying to get places to make copies to put in their establishments ...just like the small Constitutions...people just look at me. I think I am from another planet...always set apart but now I know God planned it. Shalom.