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...fatherhood requires the readiness to fight
“Whether these people will endure it, I do not know; but I know very well that no man will who has a sword!”
Lucius Verginius, in Livy’s History of Rome*
Boys tend to be raucous. The overthrow of the harmony of home or school, and the bane of many a parent’s or teacher’s peace of mind, boys’ over-the-top if not downright chaotic energy can seem a serious flaw of nature. We want to throw up our hands: what is going on? Why can’t they be calmer and more focused?
There is much in play here. There can be significant aggravating factors that are chemical/biological as well as of course family and social environment. These must be considered. But regardless of circumstances, there is clearly something of nature at work here. And it always behooves us to turn a docile ear to what nature is saying. This can make a great difference in how we think about our troubles with boys. If fighting seems to come more naturally to them, what might this bespeak?
With boys, it’s always ultimately about fatherhood. Whatever from nature is brewing and bubbling within them, it must have to do with their call to be fathers. This is the key to what is at work in them, and to how we can work with them–to help them become the men and fathers they can be.
Continued below.
Boys: Fighters So They Can Be Fathers - LifeCraft
“Whether these people will endure it, I do not know; but I know very well that no man will who has a sword!”
Lucius Verginius, in Livy’s History of Rome*
Boys tend to be raucous. The overthrow of the harmony of home or school, and the bane of many a parent’s or teacher’s peace of mind, boys’ over-the-top if not downright chaotic energy can seem a serious flaw of nature. We want to throw up our hands: what is going on? Why can’t they be calmer and more focused?
There is much in play here. There can be significant aggravating factors that are chemical/biological as well as of course family and social environment. These must be considered. But regardless of circumstances, there is clearly something of nature at work here. And it always behooves us to turn a docile ear to what nature is saying. This can make a great difference in how we think about our troubles with boys. If fighting seems to come more naturally to them, what might this bespeak?
With boys, it’s always ultimately about fatherhood. Whatever from nature is brewing and bubbling within them, it must have to do with their call to be fathers. This is the key to what is at work in them, and to how we can work with them–to help them become the men and fathers they can be.
Continued below.
Boys: Fighters So They Can Be Fathers - LifeCraft
