Child-Man, Part Two: “Generation X and Y is a generation of Lost Boys. We live in a Never-Never-Land where boys stay boys and never become men. More and more males today are putting off college, family, and adult responsibilities in order to play video games and do keg stands. The Art of Manliness is dedicated to helping men uncover what manliness means in the 21st century. What skills and knowledge should a 21st Century man acquire? What traits should they develop?” (HT: The Presurfer)
Child-Man, Part Three: “Most of the commentary about Juno has been about the teenage girl who gets pregnant and decides not to have an abortion (the movie is the latest in a slew of recent movies with similar themes): Hey, there’s a kid there, and letting the kid be born is not the end of your world. But there’s a message beyond that in this movie. And that few have noticed it — including, it would seem, the director — might itself be a disturbing cultural indicator." Kathryn Lopez, referring to the character of Mark Loring, a grown man not ready for a grown man’s responsibilities in the recent hit, Juno.
Too Old To Be a Child-Man? “According to a study set to be published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, happiness follows a U-shaped curve: It is highest at the beginning and end of our lives and lowest in-between. The researchers found that the peak of depression for both men and women in the U.K. is around 44 years of age; in the U.S., women on average are most miserable at age 40 whereas men are when they hit 50. They found a similar pattern in 70 other countries.” (story)
“Man Tries to Convince Others that He’s Not Dead”; it didn't work for this guy.
“People are doing too much, running too much, expecting too much (and, in an effort to find some relief, spending too much, eating too much, staying up too late, surfing online too much and/or watching too much TV). What's my definition of "too much"? So much that you don't have sex with your spouse” (Carolyn Hax in her latest Statesman advice column, “Modern couples are too busy for intimacy”).
The Future: Is it all we hoped for?
President Bush tells his story of recovery from drinking (news item)
A pastor in rural Montana has sold his church and congregation on eBay for $3 million.
“When at 23 years old I chose to end my pregnancy, I was clueless about what God had to say about abortion. To be honest, I didn’t know what God had to say about much of anything. As a college student, I had fought for a woman’s “right to a safe and legal abortion.” I wrote papers, signed petitions, and argued the pro-choice stance. It all seemed so enlightened at the time — until the day that choice was mine.” (continue reading the article here).
“At last week's Aspen X Games, born-again Christians sported Jesus stickers on their rides. They eschewed the party scene that saddled just about all the action. They waded through the excesses, living a chaste life while pushing the boundaries of their sport, hoping their lifestyle inspires others.” (From a story the Statesman picked up about the strong Christian presence in the sport of snowboarding)
Messin’ with New Yorkers: 207 people freeze in place in Grand Central Station. (HT: The Morning News)
“Liberals believe deeply in tolerance and over the last century have led the battles against prejudices of all kinds, but we have a blind spot about Christian evangelicals. They constitute one of the few minorities that, on the American coasts or university campuses, it remains fashionable to mock.” (Nicholas Kristof)
East meets West for this version of “Smoke on the Water.” In Internet Explorer, click once to activate and again to play. (If the video won't play from my weblog, go to Bruce Tomaso's blog where I first saw it.)
Have you read the previous posts since last Tuesday? They include the “Song of the Week“ (this week, "Fix You" by Coldplay), a hilarious music video called "Cletus Take the Reel," encouragement for those tempted to abandon ministry, the beginning of an important new LeaderLines series called "unChristian Christianity," a nice note from a church member about how Hillcrest has impacted her life, and "vertical" presidential candidates.
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