Category: Wisdom for Men

Earlier this month, I suggested we must learn how to celebrate diversity every day, not just during Black History Month. Likewise, the above quote from the Greek philosopher, Epictetus encourages us to become devoted every day to making continual progress. For example, progress in learning how to engage in conversations and disagreements with grace and understanding, especially about sensitive topics such as racism, gender issues, politics, and yes, even our sports teams! Epictetus (c. 50 – 135 AD) taught Stoicism, a philosophy about developing self-control as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. Born into slavery in what is present-day western Turkey, he taught that external events are beyond our control and that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. This philosophy doesn’t mean capitulating or surrendering your values and beliefs. It doesn’t mean becoming passive because we have no control over our lives. Conversely, it means we have a

Recently, the loveable Muppet character, Elmo posted a kind-hearted check-in this week on X (formerly known as Twitter). Unfortunately, with the thousands of replies and a few interventions from his “Sesame Street” pals later, it’s pretty clear that some people are not doing well. As CNN Health writer AJ Willingham posted here, the world is experiencing a grinding war in Ukraine. There is a potential famine in Gaza and a seemingly endless drumbeat of mass shootings in the US. Many young Americans are struggling with anxiety and depression as the country faces a well-documented mental health crisis. And in many places are in the middle of a cold, dark winter. So many people are not doing very well. But that shouldn’t keep us from asking.  The men’s group at our church occasionally does something called a “Guy Talk” which is a casual conversation about random topics. We’ve covered how we use

February in the United States is Black History Month. Anyone with even minimal cultural awareness recognizes the importance of one of our nation’s oldest organized history celebrations. Originally announced as Negro History Week back in 1926, every president since Gerald Ford through Joe Biden has issued a statement honoring the beauty, joy, and perseverance of Black Americans. Ronald Reagan once said that “understanding the history of Black Americans is a key to understanding the strength of our nation.” This understanding can help us heal from our ugly history of oppression, slavery, abuse, and hatred and move toward the equality that our Constitution grants to all people, regardless of their race, gender, or religious beliefs. Sadly, the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, reports that hate crimes rose again in 2023 in the nation’s 10 largest cities. The summer of 2020 brought us to a