What is Hearty Masculinity?

 

You might have noticed by now that there is a new Page in the side bar and Label on my last post, “Hearty Masculinity”. After I discerned that I was not called to put my name forward for Bishop of New Jersey I also did discern a different calling, to write a book for men.

You see, on one end of things we’ve heard from Jordon Peterson and his 12 Rules for Life not to mention Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan, and their ilk. On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve read a whole lot about men (for example, Denker’s Disciples of White Jesus and Reeves’ Of Boys and Men), but not nearly enough to and for men and boys. What I am offering lands in a different spot, a gentle and kind book from my perspective as a mainline clergyman with a congenital heart condition, Hearty Masculinity: Of Body and Spirit. The completed book is 44,000 words spread out in 6 chapters that offer tools and maps for navigating both secular and sacred situations as a man these days. Essentially, it makes a very practical case for Hearty Masculinity.

The first half of the book, the “Body” section, focuses on practical secular concerns. The first chapter looks at time management as a way to know yourself. The second chapter is about life maintenance, both noticing and regulating emotions and also caring for your physical wellbeing. The third chapter focuses on relating to other people and being able to discern between performative masculinity and vocational masculinity (our masculinity ought to be about caring for community not a costume).

The second half, the “Spirit” section, is about soul care. The fourth chapter makes the case that the liturgy is a pattern for a good life (gee, where have I heard that before?). The fifth chapter reconstructs masculinity using Paul’s paradigm of “power in weakness”. The final chapter consists of 10 brief devotionals for men.

So far no dice on finding a publisher, so I thought I’d start sharing some insights from the book on this blog occasionally.