In 2025, $100 billion dollars was spent worldwide on leadership development programs. The leadership development market anticipates growing at an annual rate of 13.5% until 2030 where annual spend will reach $189 billion1.There are approximately 57,000 books on Amazon containing the words “leader” or “leadership”. The Top Sellers in the United States since 2010 have been:

1. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

2. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

3. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

4. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

5. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

It is safe and accurate to say this is a topic people care about.

What is Leadership?

Surveying the internet courses and blogs for a definition of leadership led to the conclusion that leadership has come to be seen as a process. It is the influence of one person, over a team or a group; It is moving a group of people from where they are to a set destination. That set destination, be it a goal, a vision, or a mission, is the telos or ultimate aim of leadership. If a team reaches their goal or vision then it can be determined that the leader was capable.

What is a Leader?

A capable leader is the one who is able to get a group of people to get from where they are to where they want to be. It is the role of the leader to create the vision or goal for the group and then lead them to it. In a business context, a capable sales leader could get a sales team to increase their total sales. A capable CEO could increase revenue, expand into different markets or offerings. A capable military leader moves his team to fulfill their mission and bring everyone home. The capacity or ability of a leader, in a lot of ways, is determined by his ability to get people to the goal.

But what distinguishes a capable leader from a good leader?

If the aim of our programs and trainings is increasing the capacity of our leaders to influence a group of people to get from point A to point B, without any other characterizations or qualifications, we are going to get people who know how to influence others to get from point A to point B in any way, shape, or form.

Which is exactly what we have in the United States right now. The United States is full of capable leaders in business, religious and cultural settings and yet, we the people, are disappointed. While capable, America is lacking in good leaders.

The worst and most extreme example of a capable (but not good) leader within the 20th century is Adolf Hitler. He remained in power for 15 years, reshaped the German economy and the entire mindset of the people. He influenced millions of young men to take up his banner, exterminate a race, expand their territory, and put the world at war for the second time in a generation. His capability as a leader perfectly matched his leadership telos. He influenced a group to get from where they were to where he wanted them to be. Had good men not intervened, he would have accomplished his ends.

Yet we are rightly repulsed at the idea of calling Hitler a good leader. That’s because, while capable of being a leader, Hitler was not good.

In a relativistic society like the one we live in today, we can increase the capacity of leaders through programs, trainings, and books without reference to a moral framework. We so desire the autonomy relativism provides, we will elect people to public office who will continue to grant what we desire most and attempt to dismiss morality all together. We love economic progress so much, we will give influence to men and women capable of producing large profits without reference to their character.

This will continue to leave us disappointed. As much as we desire the autonomy that relativism provides, we live in a moral world, bound by the natural law. It is inescapable.

Increasing the capacity for leadership in individuals will allow us to attain goals, but that alone will not produce good leaders. Good leaders, the ones we admire, the ones we want to emulate, to celebrate, the leaders we build monuments and statues to, the ones we celebrate and write biographies about are not celebrated for their capacity but for their character.

What is a Good Leader?

Surveying lists of the greatest American leaders since its founding in the realm of statesmen, business, religious, and cultural leaders produced five names that showed up near the top on every single list2:

• George Washington

• Abraham Lincoln

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Billy Graham

The singular quality that each of these men possessed that pushed them near the top of every single list was moral courage.

This tells us something. Leadership has an aim, a telos, an end goal. Likewise the leader must also have an aim, a telos, and an end goal. If the telos of leadership is the exact same as the telos of the leader, we will continue to get high capacity leaders, but not good ones.

The leader must have a telos that is distinct from the telos of leadership. In order to become both capable and good, the leader must have good, moral qualities along with his capacity to fulfill the telos of leadership.

That is what Theodore Roosevelt teaches us about leadership.

Theodore Roosevelt On Leadership

Studying and imitating the great men in history is a far better way to become a good man than simply reading books on principles. There are a multitude of biographies on Theodore Roosevelt that will allow anyone to study and imitate his leadership qualities. There is no substitute for reading the biographies but James Strock has done the best job extracting TR’s leadership principles in his book “Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership.”

Read more

Theodore Roosevelt wrote his autobiography in 1913 after his defeat for a third term as President of the United States. It was a race he could not win and he knew it. The direction of the Republican Party, the nation, and his handpicked replacement President William Taft irked him. He believed the country was headed in the wrong direction and he must do something about it. In a case of both personal responsibility and hubris, he decided to “throw his hat into the ring”, start a new political party, and run for President a third time.

Teddy was a man who had shaped the country by sheer force of will before and during his presidency. The loss of the Oval Office seemed to end his ability to shape the country. He was not one for losing but for overcoming obstacles. His entire life was one of overcoming obstacles. As a child he was plagued with debilitating asthma; in college he experienced the death of his heroric-like father. The birth of his first daughter brought with it the loss of his mother and first wife on the same day.

Here was another obstacle in the way of his sense of responsibility. After losing the presidential race, and still feeling a strong sense of responsibility for the state of the country, he turned his efforts and attention to the medium he knew best: writing. His autobiography is an explanation of his political theory that the President is a “steward of the people.” He chooses events from his life that show his development as a steward, as one responsible for himself and for others.

TR’s Philosophy

Theodore Roosevelt’s philosophy of politics and life can be summarized in the opening letter of his autobiography.

Justice among the nations of mankind and the uplifting of humanity can only be brought about by those strong and daring men who with wisdom love peace but who love righteousness more than peace. Undoubtedly collective power is essential to this end, but no exercise of collective power will ever avail if the average man does not keep his sense of personal duty, initiative, and responsibility.1

The uplifting of humanity is a core theme of Theodore Roosevelt’s life. He believed it took strong, daring, man in the arena type of men, to bring it about. He also believed deep in his soul that the common man in his everyday life could be one of those strong and daring men who could uplift humanity if they would keep their sense of personal duty, initiative, and responsibility.

Manhood is Responsibility

Prior to becoming responsible for the nations, or a state of a city, or even a family, Theodore Roosevelt believed a man must become responsible for himself. He is not to blame his state of life, his character, or anything else on others or on his circumstances. Blame eroded the spirit of a man. Looking for a handout kept a man stuck, unable to move forward in the great battle of life.

If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.

Envy will make a man idle. It tricks a man into thinking if he gets angry enough at what others have, he can come to have it himself. Or at the very least, he has an explanation for what he has and who he has become. Instead of taking on strenuous action towards a noble cause, a man can get lost in the angry thoughts of his mind, thinking he is altering his situation. In a way, he is altering it, but not for the better.

It is a difficult task to take full responsibility for your life. It begins with an honest look in the mirror each morning, reminding the man looking at back at you that he is responsible for your current state of life. And only that man in the mirror can make the effort to change what his life looks like.

Andrew Tate was arrested again on 38 sex crime charges.

Thank God.

Andrew Tate is at the center of the Manosphere. If you're unfamiliar, the Manosphere is online personalities who speak to young men. It works as an umbrella term for anyone who has a message for men. The work I do here would be considered by many to be part of the manosphere generally and so would other channels like Ad Aternum, The Art of Manliness, Catholic Manhood, and many others. But most of the time when people are talking of the manosphere, they are talking about people like Andrew Tate.

According to UNWomen.org:

The manosphere is an umbrella term for online communities that have increasingly promoted narrow and aggressive definitions of what it means to be a man – and the false narrative that feminism and gender equality have come at the cost of men’s rights. These communities promote the idea that emotional control, material wealth, physical appearance and dominance, especially over women, are markers of male worth.

The manosphere targets male audiences on social media, podcasts, gamer communities, dating apps and just about all digital spaces. Many participants engage with it while searching for forums to openly discuss or learn about men’s issues. But while content may appear focused on men’s self-improvement, many of these groups promote unhealthy behaviors, like instructing boys and men to build themselves up by putting others down.

You’ll notice in their description that feminism is not to blame for the rise of the manosphere which is interesting for two reasons. One, every man in the manosphere despises feminism openly. Two, the rise of feminism claims women were robbed of their rights by men. Take the most extreme of feminists and you’ll find an equally extreme man in the manosphere.

These are two groups that despise each other.

When the only two sexes in the world begin to despise each other and look at one another with contempt, we are in a bad place.

Describing the ideologies behind the manosphere, the UNWomen.org,

While groups within the manosphere do not all share the same beliefs, many are united in their misogyny – a prejudice and resentment of women and girls. In many ways, the manosphere is descended from a long line of anti-feminist movements.

These major manosphere groups spread myths, pseudoscience and lies based on gender:

• Involuntary celibates (incels): believe that men are entitled to sex, and women purposefully deprive them of it. Extremist incel culture promotes rape and assault and brings together other ideologies, including racism and homophobia. Incels have been linked to acts of mass violence.

• Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs): often take an academic tone to claim that feminism and women’s rights – to vote, to education, to leadership positions – have disadvantaged men. MRA preachers suggest society is gynocentric, that is, dominated by feminine interests.

• Pick up artists (PUAs): teach members how to coerce women into sex and mock the idea of sexual consent.

• Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) movement: suggests society is rigged against men – and that it is best to avoid women, and even mainstream society, altogether.

I think it needs to be made clear for all my readers that one does not have to be a feminist to feel concern about the influence of the manosphere. And one does not need the ideas of Andrew Tate to be a man.

I, like many of my male counterparts, think feminism has done more to destroy femininity than almost anything else. Others have written far better pieces on that particular topic than I could. There have been several articles written in the last year about the political divide between men and women. We live in the same world, and worldviews are being segmented now, primarily by sex. We are about to have a country full of conservative/traditional men of varying degrees and a country full of progressive/liberal women of varying degrees whose worlds are bound to collide. Children not conceived are already at risk of being born into a divorced household.

So while feminism, as it is understood as a political and social movement, is destructive, UNWomen are spot on in their description of much of the manosphere. They do coerce and manipulate the women they hate into sex and then dispose of them.

I don't find it manly at all.

There is a reason Andrew Tate has been arrested multiple times on allegations of sexual crimes.

The manosphere is a reaction to feminism but it is built on a philosophy that has captured teenage boys for generations: hedonism. But it is not a hedonism thought out. It is an angry hedonism with vengeance at its core. A man doesn't just pursue pleasure; he pursues pleasure by force of will and manipulation as if it is his right. It makes him feel as if he is rising up as a man should do but he is rising up not for the good, but for himself.

There is nothing in this philosophy about responsibility, service, virtue, the pursuit of the good for the sake of others, the uplifting of humanity, or the cultivation of a family life. Instead, it is self-seeking hedonism attracting angry, wandering men, especially those who are young and who have been ostracized by a combination of feminism and fatherlessness.

In a world where children grow up without fathers, you're bound to have a world where women are mad at men for not being everything they need a father to be. And we have men who have no idea what it means to be a man, by which I mean to take on responsibility, service, strength for the sake of another, pursuit of the good, and the creation of a family. Young men these days have no concept of what that means because they've never seen it.

There's this great scene in the show Friday Night Lights. Michael B. Jordan's character is interacting with the coach. The coach is on his case and says, "I need you to be a man." Michael B. Jordan throws something across the room and says, "How am I supposed to be a man when no one ever showed me?" I paused the show at that moment and wept because that is the story of an entire generation, maybe two or three.

Andrew Tate may be going to prison and hopefully so. But he has created many disciples and his influence is not gone. I know many Christian men were captivated by things he said. Not all he said, but some. Some is too much.

Feminism has lasted many generations because it went unopposed. The Andrew Tate manosphere could have the same outcome for the next few generations if it goes unopposed and we will end up with a true battle of the sexes that will nothing short of catastrophic.

Happy Wednesday to you. Tomorrow I will be heading to upstate New York for the first time in my life for some time away with my family and my parents. Four days or hiking, swimming, and fishing is on the agenda if the weather holds up. If not, it’ll be four days of Candy Land and Go Fish. Both sound awesome.

In my last post, Why is it Called Institute of Men, I promised to begin writing a series of guides called The Path to help all my subscribers begin the journey of becoming the man they want to be. These are intended to help you with formation of character. All that I am sharing in these guides are from learned experience and study. I am indebted to the many men I have learned from over the years.

I am writing these a little differently than my normal articles. At the top of each article will be an outline. The outline can be skimmed, printed, or used as an exercise to assist you along the path. Below the outline, I am adding a brief article that explains the outline. The outline should be enough to get you started.

I added a dedicated page to the website that will function like a table of contents for these posts. See the picture below. Just head over to instituteofmen.substack.com to find it.

I began this journey at the age of 23. No matter your age, you can begin this journey. I am 12 years in and still attempting to pursue the vision I first put to paper in my parent’s basement.

I hope this is helpful to you.

God Bless,

Keaton

Becoming the man you want to be begins with two questions:

The first question begins with an honest examination of conscience and an honest examination of your life: “Am I who I want to be?” with a follow-up question, “Am I doing anything to pursue or to become the man I want to be?”

It is vital you be honest with yourself when answering this question. In the Brothers Karamazov, the Elder Zosima is giving advice to the drunken father Fyodor and he states:

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.”

You are not helping yourself by lying to yourself.

The second question can be a little bit more difficult: “Who do I want to become? What is the vision for who I could become?”

When figuring out who you want to become, it is helpful to use the VIM framework. VIM stands for Vision, Intention, and Means.

Vision

A vision is what you can see but can’t quite attain. It is someone you are not yet but could become. It is your direction, your compass, and every choice either brings you closer or further away from that vision.

In Proverbs 29:18 it says: Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

A few observations:

1. Human nature is to cast off restraint. In some translations, that phrase is translated as “the people perish.” Solomon, in writing this verse, displays great wisdom on human nature. The desire to live without restraint, without boundaries, rules, guidelines, or laws leads to people perishing. Casting off restraint destroys personal responsibility. There is a tendency to believe a life free of restraint is a free life. It’s paradoxical. Those without restraint find themselves far from freedom and in a prison of their own making.

2. Casting off restraint is directly tied to lacking vision. Vision brings purpose and order to everyday activities; it gives direction, it provides an outlet to give your energies and efforts to. Vision acts like an anchor that keeps a ship from aimlessly floating. It also acts as at rudder, giving direction to the ship when it sets its course.

3. Then this odd phrase, “but blessed is he who keeps the law”. What do law and vision have to do with each other? Law, within a society, is purposed to help the city live up to its highest value. Law, for an individual, are the boundaries, rules, and guidelines you submit yourself to in order to realize the vision you set for yourself.

Intention

Do I intend to make every strenuous effort to become the man I want to be?

1. A decision must be made to pursue the vision you set out. Writing it down, without a decision to pursue it, leads no where.

2. A decision is at least two parts: it has a YES to who you want to be and a NO to everything else that would hinder that vision.

3. Indecision can lead to a lot of stress and overthinking. It will have you tossed to and fro by the waves of life.

Means

Do I have the means necessary to pursue the vision I set for myself?

1. Do the friends you have around you push you towards becoming a better man, or do they push you into becoming something else? Would they be okay if you dedicated a good portion of your life to prayer and to study, to spiritual discipline, to saying no to things that are fun but not wholesome?

2. Is your schedule so jam-packed that you have no time for reflection, quiet, suffering, or doing hard things that are outside your comfort zone?

3. Are you attending church regularly?

4. Do you have bad habits that would hinder your progress?

The thing about pursuing the vision of who you want to be is that it’s a spiritual formation exercise. It doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take a lot of time and a lot of effort.

Choosing People to Imitate

Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:1

Creating a vision for who you will be come is difficult if you attempt to pull it out of thin air. This also cuts you off from the great saints of the past, the Christian heroes and the men who left their mark on the world and in their families. It is far better to find someone to imitate than to try to do this on your own. In fact, I’m not sure you will get very far if you do not have another person to imitate. If I were to sum up the whole of Christian philosopher Dallas Willard’s work into one line, it would be: The path of discipleship is the path of imitating Jesus Christ.

I believe it is good for every man to choose three people he should imitate:

1. Jesus.

2. A man older and wiser than you, who you greatly admire, and who you can serve.

3. A Saint from the past.

If you are fortunate enough to have a great father, he should be on the list too.

You can go through the VIM model on paper. I have also made a PDF worksheet to help you with this process. Paid subscribers can access this worksheet in the Perks section here.

Subscribe now

The Background Story

I've told this story so many times that it feels like I'm repeating myself ad nauseam. I am a college dropout, or at least I was a college dropout. I did complete my degree at 30 years old in the most expensive test of resilience that I could think of. I started college at 18, and I dropped out after my junior year of college. There were a lot of reasons that I chose to do so, which I'm not going to detail here, but it is part of my story. That led to a series of steps that would hinder me for many years and force me to become the man that I am today.

After I dropped out of school, I worked at the Cracker Barrel, then I did a brief stint in IT when a friend got me a job. It was right around that time that I met God for the first time in a long time. I guess I should say I became reacquainted with God as I cried out for help. I moved into my parents' basement, re-enrolled in school, and started working at the Olive Garden. It was school in the morning, Olive Garden by night. I had big plans, big ambitions. But I dropped out of that school too. I then became an intern at a church for nine months for free, which was one of the best formative decisions I have ever made and one of the worst financial decisions I have ever made. All things being equal, I would probably do it again.

Somewhere in the middle of the story above I thought I was more mature than I actually was. Nothing I have shared indicated that I was a mature young man, yet I thought I had the capacity to be a husband, a father, a businessman, and make some girl happy. How naive. I was tired of being single. A lot of men who have not sorted out their crap think a woman will solve those problems.

I went up to the garage and I started complaining to my father, telling him about all my dreams and ambitions and how I really wanted to have a girlfriend. He stopped me. He said something that hurt but that I needed to hear. My father looked me in the eyes and said, "Son, if you try to bring women into your life right now, it's the most selfish thing you could do because you have no plan. You have yet to carry any true responsibility."

Sheesh, Dad.

Then he asked me a question that would forever change my life. He said, "Son, what kind of man do you want to be?" I didn't have an answer to that question, so I gave him the "I haven't really thought about it" type of answer because I didn't know. I also didn't know how to answer the question.

I went down to my room, pulled out a journal and a Bible to figure out in one afternoon what type of man I wanted to be. I flipped to the passage that was most familiar, 1 Samuel 16. We first meet David in this chapter and get a description of what he was like. It reads like this: "I know a man, a son of Jesse, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of courage, a man of war, prudent in speech, and the Lord is with him." I wrote in my moleskin notebook, "That is the type of man I want to be." I had my first personal vision written on paper.

That carried me for a few years until new responsibilities caused me to reexamine and expand the vision of who I want to be. I have added a few things here and there but for the most part, it has stayed the exact same for well over seven years.

When it first crosses a man's mind that he is not who he should be or who he wants to be, there are endless options that he could pursue. Many men he could potentially imitate, but not all of them are good. Not all of them are noble, not all of them are virtuous, but they might have some other characteristic that a young man finds appealing, like: wealthy, handsome, successful, powerful, charismatic, a leader. There is nothing wrong with these traits if the core of his character is formed into a virtuous man.

Following the VIM method above will help you create a vision for who you could become. Along with discovering other men I wanted to imitate I found it helpful to think deeply at what it would cost me in the future if I did not get my life in order. That exercise in brutal honesty may be why I am blessed with a wife and four little ones.

Once the vision is written, perfectly or imperfectly, a decision has to be made. You can write down the vision of who you want to be and never make any progress towards it because you've never actually made a decision. A decision is at least two parts: it has a YES to who you want to be and a NO to everything else that would hinder that vision. It's similar to marriage. You can get caught up in “is this girl is the right girl for me to marry” because you are not yet ready to say YES to her and NO to every other potential option. That indecision can lead to a lot of stress and overthinking. It will also lead to zero progress in your pursuit of becoming a good man.

A decision has to be made to do everything you can to pursue that vision with all of your energy for the rest of your life. It's a decision that you will have to make every single day and every single month. Eventually, it becomes embedded in your character and it becomes an easier and easier decision, because with every choice, your character is being formed.

Are you actually in a place to be able to pursue this vision? Do the friends you have around you push you towards becoming a better man, or do they push you into becoming something else? Would they be okay if you dedicated a good portion of your life to prayer and to study, to spiritual discipline, to saying no to things that are fun but not wholesome? Is your schedule so jam-packed that you have no time for reflection, quiet, suffering, or doing hard things that are outside your comfort zone? Are you attending church regularly?

The thing about pursuing the vision of who you want to be is that it's a spiritual formation exercise. It doesn't take a lot of money, but it does take a lot of time and a lot of effort. One thing that is abundantly helpful when trying to figure out what kind of man you want to be, is having admiral and noble men you can imitate. Think of a few men who have fulfilled their obligations over a long period of time, men who are highly respected.

Instead of asking for a mentorship, ask how you could help them. There was a man I deeply admired named Scott. I decided he was going to be a man I’d help and serve however I could. I didn’t make a formal declaration to him or anything like that. I simply approached him, talked to him, and asked how I could help him that day. My first assignment from Scott was to stack chairs. I wasn't sure how that was going to help me become the man I wanted to be. But I did it. He didn't ask me to do anything except stack chairs for over a year. A couple of years in, I was able to begin having sit downs with him. He even allowed me to record some of the conversations so I could keep them and refer back to them.

I have more to say but I’ll leave it here for now. This is the first step of The Path - the rest of the journey relies on taking this first step.

What kind of man do you want to be?

But every once in a while, a thought hits me while I’m laying in bed. My wife doesn’t appreciate the preferred speed of dictating while she is trying to sleep or the click clack of a keyboard. So onto the iPhone keyboard my thumbs go. Please forgive me of any typos.

I’ve never explained why I titled this Substack Institute of Men. It wasn’t always named that. There was also a three year hiatus where I didn’t really post anything. I felt it was time to explain the name because a name carries a mission (see my posts on my children’s names to understand more).

Please forgive any typos.

Also, given the nature of this post, I’d appreciate it if you share it with someone and encouraged them to subscribe. Just click that little button right now there to share it. Also, help me with the algorithm by hitting that like button IF you liked this post. If you didn’t, pretend you didn’t read it and definitely don’t hit the like button. That’d be lying and lying is bad.

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I started a podcast in 2021. It was called The Man I Want to Be, based on a question my father asked me. I didn’t have a grand plan for the podcast. It felt more like a necessity given what I was seeing in our culture. I was becoming aware of the fatherless epidemic and the sorry state of men in our country. Maybe sorry doesn’t convey the right attitude I have. Heartbroken was more of what I was feeling. So I started a podcast, asked my dad to join which he did. Below is a picture of how we started.

Look at that fancy set up!

For real, look closely at that picture. Those are hampers, a $100 usb microphone, next to the stroller my wife and I purchased the day before.

I kept the podcast going for about a year or so. Occasionally it was me and my dad. Often it was me monologuing for an hour. I would record in the closet in the back because it had awesome sound proofing from all the extra clothes.

No promotion, no social media, just word of mouth. When we moved to Massachusetts, I stopped recording for several months. I was finally finishing my politics degree at 31, having a second child, and adjusting to the very unique world of New England.

When I began recording again, I decided to change the name to Institute of Men. The Man I Want to Be started on the Spotify podcast platform before I moved to Substack. Then I hopped off Substack for the podcast for a different platform. Then came back again. What can I say, I like experimenting and change. But I’m here to stay now. Just don’t hold me to it. I recorded for about 4 months in 2023 and posted articles and then stopped. Life got a little too complicated to be recording a podcast and writing articles.

It was right around that time I told my wife I had to become Catholic. That meant leaving my church job, finding a new one. Anyone who’s gone through that experience knows it’s a whirlwind. I also don’t believe the processing online is a good idea.

So I stopped posting until about February of this year. That was a difficult decision. I had just over 1,000 monthly listeners at the time. That all disappeared. But it was the right call.

But the mission and vision I felt compelled to share never diminished. Not once. If anything it grew.

“Yeah cool backstory, but why is it called the Institute of Men?”

Great question.

I sensed something in 2021 but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew men were struggling, fatherless, lost. My time in ministry put me face to face with men like I just described. And so does my day job in home renovation.

The thing I sensed back then and can put a finger on now is contained in the word Formation. Let’s work backwards.

The United States has some major issues. We are attempting to solve them politically. Some can, most cannot be. Nations are great and become great by the VIRTUE of their leaders AND its citizens. Politics is so very limited when it comes to forming virtue in its citizens. Moral laws are teachers in themselves but that assumes the laws are written to enforce morality. Moral laws can only be implemented by virtuous leaders.

So how do we get virtuous leaders?

Institutions.

Institutions are uniquely designed to FORM people. All education is an institution. The Church and religion are institutions. The family is an institution.

So what happens when institutions cease to form people or form them in an immoral direction?

You get America in 2026. A large proportion of our leaders and citizens lack any sense of virtue.

That’s no good.

But here is the other kicker. College is supposed to be a higher level of formation than high school or elementary school. A good college can’t make up for a poor educational formation in the younger years. It’s not designed to do that. An elementary school cannot make up for a poor family life. And a poor family life is destined to happen if the man negates his duty. Which means if the man fails, it has a trickle down effect through generations.

Hillsdale cannot form unformed men and women. They probably wouldn’t even be admitted.

The only institution in the world that can make up for poor formation in the younger years (when it comes specifically to virtue, not necessarily to education) is the Church. But even the Church will have difficulty replacing a good family life. Especially when the problem is so widespread.

I promise I’ll tell you why I called it the Institute of Men after one more point.

How did we get here?

Current data: In the latest Census figures I found, there were 10.9 million one-parent family groups with a child under 18, and 80% were maintained by a mother, which works out to about 8.7 million single-mother family groups in 2022.

What about other generations? Courtesy of Perplexity

For six decades, millions of children have grown up without fathers.

Which begs the question, how did this happen? No fault divorce laws? The pill? Both played a significant part. But I also recently read a theory that comes before no fault divorce and the pill.

The theory: we killed them or destroyed their minds in WWI and WWII. You can read about it here.

We have generations and generations of leaders and citizens unformed in virtue and almost no one capable of displaying it or imparting it. And we have no way of making up for the highly important young years.

Unless individual men take it upon themselves to play the long game.

So why is it called the Institute of Men?

Because this is my humble attempt to push individual men to take on the hard and vigorous task of forming themselves into men of virtue who can then pass it on to other men, especially their children and grandchildren.

When men do not do what men are called to do, the world falters.

Let’s do some math. Suppose this Substack never passes 1000 subscribers. And suppose each of those 1000 subscribers take it upon themselves to do the hard work of becoming men of virtue who can be imitated. And suppose they pass that off to one other man and two children. Last suppose, this continues for 6 decades to mirror the 6 downward decades.

Or we’ll have AI do it because I’ve been typing on this iPhone keyboard for 1 hour and 23 mins.

60 years, 1 million people impacted. I’m here for the long game. Fortunately, I’m not the only one who is attempting to help solves the problem. Many, many men have stepped up in the local communities or online to help men answer the call of virtue.

Now they just have to respond to the call. No one can make a man do that. He must take it upon himself and with the assistance of others, he has a chance.

I work with almost all men in my day job. All of them have similar father stories. There are 12 men employed at our company. I am the only one not from a broken home. 9 had alcoholic fathers. None them have a spiritual, monetary, of familial inheritance. I’ve had to fire 5 men in the course of my time there. All five came from fatherless homes. And it was easy to tell what was missing in their life. No one taught them how to be a man.

The other 12, for the most part, found their way into a church and met another man, older, wiser, who could help them.

The goal of the Institute of Men is to push readers towards the difficult work of formation so they have something to pass on.

Formation takes a few essential elements:

1. Faith in God

2. Knowledge that forms a moral worldview

3. Action

4. Great Men to imitate

5. Friendship

I’m sure there are more. For now, that is enough.

With that, there will be some new things I’ll be adding to the substack. One, The Path will be published. The Path is one way of many that I recommend for becoming a man of virtue. It’s essentially the path I followed. There will be a section on the website called The Path.

Second, I’m going to start posting essays that answer tough questions. They’ll begin with a question that I attempt to answer. I expect these to take me a long time to write. They will rely on the great saints of the past to help us answer.

While I’m at it, I have two Substack recommendations for you. Men of the West and Ad Aternum. Both are fantastic substacks for men.

We’re now at 1 hour and 41 mins on this iPhone keyboard. My hands are not feeling great. If you would, please share this substack with someone you know.

God Bless

Keaton

Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July. Every Independence Day I experience a surge of patriotism that makes me want to dive into all the books I read in school: Alexis de Tocqueville, The Federalist Papers, my US history books - I want to reacquaint myself with the ideals of the US. I think the thing I love most about the US and its founding is we, as a people, have aimed at an ideal and strived for it. Fallen short? Yeah, of course. But we still aim at the ideal. It’s the same with the work I do here on this Substack - I do my best to create an image of the ideal because the ideal forces you and me to rise.

I also spent the weekend thinking about Charlie Kirk. I didn’t watch much of his content or follow him while he was alive but I knew who he was and what he stood for. He was a once in a lifetime kind of man. I do hope we see many small Charlie’s popping up in our communities.

Several new subscribers have joined in the last week. I want to say thank you for reading my work. If you’re new, be sure to check out some of the other articles at instituteofmen.substack.com.

Occasionally, I’ll write a very practical and actionable post aimed at helping young men become the man they want to be. This is one of those posts. Even if you aren’t young or you’re already married, you can still do these 20 things. I think you’ll find them reinvigorating.

As I’ve been asking, if you find this beneficial, please share it with someone else. If you’re a fellow substacker, hit that restack button at the bottom. It helps me out immensely.

I’m a big believer that if you want to get the best out of a man, you have to get him to do things. It's cool to write essays about the prophetic nature of your name, about the great man we should imitate, and about spiritual disciplines, and all that stuff. It's really good, but I don't think it is complete, nor will it turn the heart of man into a great man. For this, I think a man needs action. I think he needs to complete hard tasks that challenge his body, his mind, his heart. He must also develop a sense of adventure and fun

It’s good for a man to face adversity and to overcome it with his head held high. Our boundaries infused world has gone from boundaries around bad things to boundaries around uncomfortable things. Not all of the activities listed below are hard or difficult but they do present a challenge in different ways. Some challenges are sticking to discipline, some are physically challenging, some mentally challenging; many are adventurous and fun which help bring a man outside of himself.

I could list all the reasons to do these activities and all the benefits they’ll bring you. I’m not going to do that. You'll discover them as you do them and look back on them. But I will give you one benefit.

What they will do for you is instill a sense of confidence.

Confidence that you can ask that girl out, in person; confidence you can apply for that job you want or start that venture you’re dreaming about. Confidence at social gatherings and confidence when you’re feel like you’re going through life solo. These activities will give you a sense that you can make your way in the world.

Let’s briefly talk about asking that girl out since GenZ is going on less dates than any other generation.

A man lacks confidence when he has very little to offer. He has very little to offer a woman when he has not challenged himself with hard tasks or with adventure. Our therapeutic culture (essay coming soon on that topic) wants to affirm nothingness. Call it good and hope it sticks. But it doesn’t stick. All it does is show how unfamiliar we are with the spirit of a man. A young man who has never tried to do difficult things or anything at all knows he doesn’t have much to offer a woman. And it’s killing him on the inside.

A woman, not a girl, not a feminist, a woman desires a man who has something to offer her: steadiness, strength, adventure, and someone who is interesting. She wants a sense of security that transcends money. She wants fun - the type of fun only a good man can bring.

I did every single one of these activities prior to meeting my wife. Some I did well, some I did not. But I did them. Many lessons and many stories come from doing the activities below. I was not a very confident young man. These activities, among other things I share on this Substack, helped me and instilled a sense of confidence.

Write these down on some paper. Maybe add your own. Then do them one at a time, crossing them off as you go. Journal about them and your experience. You’ll be glad you did.

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1. Climb a 14ner. (A really tall mountain)

2. Go camping alone.

3. Work for one year with zero pay.

4. Use only your bike or feet for transportation for 3 months.

5. Read the bible cover to cover in 40 days.

6. Complete a five day fast.

7. Work a sales job.

8. Build something with only hand tools.

9. Copy the New Testament letters by hand (harder than you think!)

10. Read 10 books from this list (institute reading list)

11. Volunteer for manual labor (or work a blue collar job)

12. Start a small business/side hustle.

13. Swim 1000m

14. Do CrossFit, MMA, or a few spartan races.

15. Public speak to a group (any size)

16. Fix something that is broken and unfamiliar.

17. Have lunch with someone super poor/homeless

18. Take a trip to see a monument - don’t make a plan.

19. Interview someone much older than you about life.

20. Ask her out in person.

21. Bonus: subscribe to this Substack.

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Hope you’re having a good week. I especially hope you were able to get some time off to celebrate the Fourth of July. I have not spent much time thinking about politics or the country in the past year but at one time in my life, it was really important to me (I studied government at Liberty University). As we approach the 250th birthday of the United States, I wanted to write an essay encouraging you to read the Federalist Papers.

On Monday evening I posted a note that encouraged people who follow my publication to read the Federalist Papers in celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The Federalist Papers were the persuasive arguments put forward by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay as to why the Confederation of the United States should adopt the Constitution of the United States. We’re celebrating the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence this week. The Constitution of the United States happened 11 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So while the focus of the 4th of July and America’s 250th birthday focuses on the courage and boldness of men to declare independence from their home country, the backbone of the United States and its founding philosophy can be found within the Federalist Papers.

The Federalists Papers are not about the Declaration, I do believe it would be a good idea to venture through some of them this week less we think America is only about unrestrained freedom of the individual - which neither the Declaration or the Constitution are about. These young men, Madison being about 35 and Alexander Hamilton being about 31, penned a series of essays over the course of a year and a half persuading the people skeptical of a strong federal government that it was necessary for their future security; for liberty, for order, and for justice.

The Federalist Papers represent one of the greatest political philosophies ever penned by men, taking the best of their Greek, Roman, and English heritage and attempting to filter out what was bad in each of those systems to create a government built upon liberty, order, and justice. I am of the opinion that every man should read the Federalist Papers at least once in his life try to understand the underlying philosophy of the Constitution of the United States. Modern American politics has descended into madness (it seems). I think part of the reason is we have become unfamiliar with our founding philosophy.

It’s important to note that the Federalist Papers, although they won in their day, were combated by the anti-Federalist papers. An example of where there was contention comes from the Bill of Rights. The Federalist Papers, specifically Alexander Hamilton, were not in favor of a Bill of Rights. He worried that it would create more problems than security. The anti-Federalists insisted on a Bill of Rights and wrote strong essays in favor of a Bill of Rights. The Federalists conceded, adding the Bill of Rights, which became the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Federalist Papers do not touch on the Bill of Rights except as a mode of danger. The Bill of Rights, as declared and expounded in the Anti-Federalist Papers, did not provide a right for anything and everything that the whim of man would take upon himself. They were not absent of liberty, order, and justice. Anti-Federalists were nervous about the strength of the federal government imposing things down on the bottom. We have seen that happen.

There are many upsides to the Bill of Rights, and they have served much good. There are many downsides to the Bill of Rights that have served much harm. Much of this comes from our interpretation, or, I should say, the judiciary’s interpretation of the Bill of Rights, along with the amendments that have come after them. Part of the reason for this is that, as a nation, we have forgotten or become unfamiliar with our founding political philosophy.

The Federalists were worried about the lack of strength at the federal level to protect the country from itself and from enemies without. They were right about protecting the country from itself. The individual, the families, and the communities who can remember their founding political philosophy are better equipped to elect representatives who hold to the virtues of their founding philosophy. If you elect better people, you get better laws, and you’re more equipped to hold them accountable and not fall for the propagandic sloganeering. By forgetting our founding philosophy, we have hollowed out the structure that holds up our political landscape, which is why it seems like madness that could descend on itself.

I do think it is good for a man to read the Federalist Papers and to reconnect with the political philosophy of the founding of the United States and to root himself in our heritage. I recommended that this be done prior to the celebration of the 250th birthday. To undertake reading all of the Federalist Papers is quite a task. They are long, they are old, and you are reading a political philosophy. These letters are intended to be thought about, chewed on, discussed, and debated as they were the day that they were written. They were written over the course of a year and a half, and it would be okay for them to be read over the course of a year and a half. In preparation for celebrating the 250th birthday, I have selected three of the most important Federalist Papers that I would encourage you to read and think about. I have copied the text of Federalist 10 below so that you can read it right in this article, and at the end I have linked the other two Federalist Papers for your reading. On Federalist 10, I have boldened the text of lines that are worth chewing on and discussing with friends.

Federalist 10

The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection

From the New York Packet

Friday, November 23, 1787.

Author: James Madison

To the People of the State of New York:

AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice. He will not fail, therefore, to set a due value on any plan which, without violating the principles to which he is attached, provides a proper cure for it. The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations. The valuable improvements made by the American constitutions on the popular models, both ancient and modern, cannot certainly be too much admired; but it would be an unwarrantable partiality, to contend that they have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected. Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority. However anxiously we may wish that these complaints had no foundation, the evidence, of known facts will not permit us to deny that they are in some degree true. It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments; but it will be found, at the same time, that other causes will not alone account for many of our heaviest misfortunes; and, particularly, for that prevailing and increasing distrust of public engagements, and alarm for private rights, which are echoed from one end of the continent to the other. These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations.

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.

There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.

The second expedient is as impracticable as the first would be unwise. As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other; and the former will be objects to which the latter will attach themselves. The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties.

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good. So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts. But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government.

No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time; yet what are many of the most important acts of legislation, but so many judicial determinations, not indeed concerning the rights of single persons, but concerning the rights of large bodies of citizens? And what are the different classes of legislators but advocates and parties to the causes which they determine? Is a law proposed concerning private debts? It is a question to which the creditors are parties on one side and the debtors on the other. Justice ought to hold the balance between them. Yet the parties are, and must be, themselves the judges; and the most numerous party, or, in other words, the most powerful faction must be expected to prevail. Shall domestic manufactures be encouraged, and in what degree, by restrictions on foreign manufactures? are questions which would be differently decided by the landed and the manufacturing classes, and probably by neither with a sole regard to justice and the public good. The apportionment of taxes on the various descriptions of property is an act which seems to require the most exact impartiality; yet there is, perhaps, no legislative act in which greater opportunity and temptation are given to a predominant party to trample on the rules of justice. Every shilling with which they overburden the inferior number, is a shilling saved to their own pockets.

It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. Nor, in many cases, can such an adjustment be made at all without taking into view indirect and remote considerations, which will rarely prevail over the immediate interest which one party may find in disregarding the rights of another or the good of the whole.

The inference to which we are brought is, that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS.

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed. Let me add that it is the great desideratum by which this form of government can be rescued from the opprobrium under which it has so long labored, and be recommended to the esteem and adoption of mankind.

By what means is this object attainable? Evidently by one of two only. Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. If the impulse and the opportunity be suffered to coincide, we well know that neither moral nor religious motives can be relied on as an adequate control. They are not found to be such on the injustice and violence of individuals, and lose their efficacy in proportion to the number combined together, that is, in proportion as their efficacy becomes needful.

From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking. Let us examine the points in which it varies from pure democracy, and we shall comprehend both the nature of the cure and the efficacy which it must derive from the Union.

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose. On the other hand, the effect may be inverted. Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people. The question resulting is, whether small or extensive republics are more favorable to the election of proper guardians of the public weal; and it is clearly decided in favor of the latter by two obvious considerations:

In the first place, it is to be remarked that, however small the republic may be, the representatives must be raised to a certain number, in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that, however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude. Hence, the number of representatives in the two cases not being in proportion to that of the two constituents, and being proportionally greater in the small republic, it follows that, if the proportion of fit characters be not less in the large than in the small republic, the former will present a greater option, and consequently a greater probability of a fit choice.

In the next place, as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in the large than in the small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried; and the suffrages of the people being more free, will be more likely to centre in men who possess the most attractive merit and the most diffusive and established characters.

It must be confessed that in this, as in most other cases, there is a mean, on both sides of which inconveniences will be found to lie. By enlarging too much the number of electors, you render the representatives too little acquainted with all their local circumstances and lesser interests; as by reducing it too much, you render him unduly attached to these, and too little fit to comprehend and pursue great and national objects. The federal Constitution forms a happy combination in this respect; the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local and particular to the State legislatures.

The other point of difference is, the greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of republican than of democratic government; and it is this circumstance principally which renders factious combinations less to be dreaded in the former than in the latter. The smaller the society, the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interests composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interests, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party; and the smaller the number of individuals composing a majority, and the smaller the compass within which they are placed, the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression. Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other. Besides other impediments, it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.

Hence, it clearly appears, that the same advantage which a republic has over a democracy, in controlling the effects of faction, is enjoyed by a large over a small republic,--is enjoyed by the Union over the States composing it. Does the advantage consist in the substitution of representatives whose enlightened views and virtuous sentiments render them superior to local prejudices and schemes of injustice? It will not be denied that the representation of the Union will be most likely to possess these requisite endowments. Does it consist in the greater security afforded by a greater variety of parties, against the event of any one party being able to outnumber and oppress the rest? In an equal degree does the increased variety of parties comprised within the Union, increase this security. Does it, in fine, consist in the greater obstacles opposed to the concert and accomplishment of the secret wishes of an unjust and interested majority? Here, again, the extent of the Union gives it the most palpable advantage.

The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the Confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it must secure the national councils against any danger from that source. A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the Union than a particular member of it; in the same proportion as such a malady is more likely to taint a particular county or district, than an entire State.

In the extent and proper structure of the Union, therefore, we behold a republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government. And according to the degree of pleasure and pride we feel in being republicans, ought to be our zeal in cherishing the spirit and supporting the character of Federalists.

Federalist 10

Federalist 39

Federalist 51 (this is the one with the famous line, “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

I also encourage you to read Liberty, Order, and Justice: An Introduction to Constitutional Principles by James McClellan. It’s a fantastic book I had to read during my undergrad that expounds the Federalist Papers and the Constitution.

Happy Monday. I wrote an article introducing my new son Caleb that received enough positive feedback that I decided to write additional articles on the names of our children. I hope these stir you to think about the names you have chosen for your children, the character traits you want to instill in them, and the story you desire for them to live out.

If you could do me a favor, please share this publication with someone. If you enjoy them or they’ve had meaningful impact on you, I would appreciate the referral.

Share Institute of Men

Enjoy the article.

God Bless

Keaton

The name of a man or a woman has a prophetic nature. The mother and father see with spiritual eyes who their son or daughter could become. The first act of parenting a new child is to give them a name; to declare who they hope their child will be. The next 18-25 years of parenting is to raise them in such a way that they become who they were named to be.

A name not only carries the vision of what a father sees in a son or daughter but it also roots them in their heritage. A name ties them to the past of their forebearers. The name gives them a sense of identity beyond their immediate surroundings and roots them in a long story, if that story has been passed down. In the case of my children, each of them has a name that ties them to their Christian heritage and their familial heritage.

We named our second child and first son, Benaiah David

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

Benaiah doesn’t get a lot of mention in the scripture but he played a prominent role in David’s rise and in David’s kingship. The verse above comes from 2 Samuel 23 where Benaiah is named among David’s mighty men. He’s one of the few warriors in David’s army that was by his side on his ascent, his exile, his fall, his recovery, and to his death.

I first encountered the name Benaiah through a book written by the former Army Soldier named Cliff Graham. The book is called Day of War. It is the first book in a series of books in the Lion of War series. It’s a novel for teenagers written about David’s mighty man, and it opens with a chapter about Benaiah fighting a lion. It’s exactly the type of book a young man would love to read if he wants something to fire him up to go fight a battle, and believes the scripture is only filled with soft men. I have loved the name ever since.

The verse above is not arbitrary accomplishments. The accomplishments in battle are highlighting parallels between Benaiah and David.

• David killed a lion protecting his father’s sheep. Benaiah killed a lion in a pit.

• David killed a giant. Benaiah killed a tall Egyptian. (Chronicles describes him as tall)

• David confronted Goliath with a staff. Benaiah confronted the Egyptian with a staff.

• One of the first words used too describe David is valiant. Same with Benaiah.

If you’re wondering what an Ariel is (Benaiah killed two Ariels of Moab), Ariel is a descriptive word that mean’s “like a lion”.

Everything in this description of Benaiah is supposed to tell you HE IS LIKE DAVID.

One of the things I intend to pass to my children, especially my son, is that becoming great does not necessarily mean glory. The glory is given to those who have been chosen, but the call to greatness, to being valiant, to being like David belongs to every single one of us. David receives the glory but Benaiah, by virtue of his deeds, shares in the glory of David.

More than likely, Benaiah was one of the four hundred dispossessed men who went down into the caves of Adullam to be with David during his exile. In his exile he took these under his care, trained them, and turned them into warriors. The caves and the wilderness where David was hiding and questioning everything about the call God had on his life and the anointing he had received. And he was making warriors out of the dispossessed. He was doing what a king does. He was calling other men to greatness, giving them hope and a future. It was in the caves of despair for David that Benaiah found a purpose for his life and someone for whom he could lay down his life.

There is a parallel between David and Benaiah and Christ and his disciple. Anyone who answers the call to become a disciple, Christ promises to train them until the disciple is like him, and thus sharing in his glory. (see Luke 6:40, Romans 8:17)

Benaiah was a lion slayer. That one little line about Benaiah, killing a lion on a snowy day, is rich in detail if we use our imagination to see the scene. Snow on the ground is going to be slippery. It difficult to firmly set his feet and take his stand against the lion. The lion is already stronger than him, more vicious. The safest place to defeat the lion is to descend into the pit, where he must confront the lion in closer quarters but at least his footing is solid. We don't know how big the pit was but it must have been big enough for a man and a lion to do battle and small enough for the man to win. Big enemies do not do well in tight spaces. After slaying the lion, Benaiah ascends out of the pit and back to life.

There's a connection to Christ in the slaying of a lion. The devil is compared to a prowling lion seeking someone to destroy. Jesus descended into the pit of hell to set the captives free, to proclaim his victory over Satan and death. Benaiah is prefiguring Christ in this manner.

Who finds the courage to fight a lion? Benaiah did become a valiant lion slayer by himself. He attached himself to one greater than himself and dedicated his life to imitating this much greater man. He watched him pray, cry out to God, weep, rise, train, and do battle. He watched his interactions with other desolate and forgotten men. This was long before David came into his glory as king. Benaiah did not attach himself to David because he was positionally king but because he was king-like in the cave. There, he learned to fight lions.

My son’s middle name is David. Benaiah David Tucker. David is also my first name. King David is the man I admire the most in all of Scripture with Christ being the one exception who stands above him. The whole of my adult life has been a study of the life and character of David: his response to personal sin, his care for the desolate man, his quiet rise in the cave.

Benaiah did not just attach himself to David, but David attached himself to Benaiah.

It is my hope to impart whatever is good in me to my son. I also hope my son sees in me a man worth imitating, worth becoming like. Many sons do not admire their father. They may listen and obey, but they don’t want to be like them. That is not the fault of the son, but of the father who did not become someone worth imitating. Abdication of duty, lack of devotion, personal sin, and everything in between can cause a son to look elsewhere for a hero, for a man they want to be like.

Sons, from the earliest of ages, want to be like a great man. They hope their father is a man they can be like. We can hear this on the playground or in our own memory. “My dad can beat up your dad” was the great insult of kindergarten. It is said with confidence and assurance. There is a belief in the young spirit of a boy that is father is invincible and unbeatable. He will eventually mature, and see clearly that his father is just a man. Hopefully in the clearness of his eyes he see that his father, though just a man, is a just man, not a coward or hypocrite.

I gave my son a high name to live up to. By attaching my name to his name, I also gave myself a high name to live up to. I want my son to be valiant, a lion slayer, a strengthener of men, and defender of what is good by the conduct of his life. I want him to learn to rise out of the cave and to stand his ground. That means he needs to see me doing those things. If I am not those things, I cannot expect him to learn them from me. It will not be his fault, but mine.

If I hope and desire for him to do those things and he is primarily going to learn from me how to do such deeds that means he needs to be with me as I am doing them. Breakfasts and playtime, fun and games are important for bonding but they will not instill the courage he needs to make his way in the world. He needs to see me going about my life, strengthening men, praying, taking Church seriously, and even in the midst of the battles of life. It would be a detriment to him if I kept him from the daily dangers of life, sheltered in the home. As he grows, he is going to need to spend more time with me, his father, so he can see how I handle different parts of life. It is essential to his development.

Hopefully, my son can learn from me how to be a man.

I hope you’re doing well today. My paternity leave is finishing up soon, and I’ll be going back to my day job on Monday. Four children under four have kept us full hands on deck. Our life is beautiful chaos. If you wouldn’t mind saying a few prayers for my wife as she will be at home with four children by herself for 8 to 9 hours a day, we would both greatly appreciate it.

This article comes from a subscriber question. One of my subscribers asked about the correlation between taking care of ourselves physically and our spiritual well-being. It is my attempt to help anyone understand the relationship between our spiritual well-being and our physical well-being as far as I understand it. At the end of the article, I list some of my favorite exercises that you can work into your routine.

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The Rough Day

I had a rough day at work. A friend had recommended me for a job at a leasing company when I was desperate for work. It was a fine job, but it was the wrong job for that time in my life. I had just been declined for a job I really wanted. I spent the summer between that rejection and getting this new job driving for Uber, confused about the status of my life or what I was even going to be doing.

My job was to find tenants for vacant properties and to post late rent notices on current tenants. This particular company had insane late fees. I would often post late rent notices that had $1,000 in fees. On this particular day, I posted several notices to single moms. Now I understand businesses are businesses, and there have to be consequences for late rent, otherwise rents never get paid. When you’re the one delivering the news, trying to be indifferent to the situation is difficult, especially if you’re in a sensitive place.

That was only part of the issue, though. The underlying issue was that my spiritual life was out of condition. I had allowed the confusion of the time cultivate dismay in my soul. I began to place all of my energy into various things, grasping to establish something for my life without prayer or courage.

I’m sure you’re familiar with those times where everything seems to be collapsing in on itself.

It feels like you’re treading water. You start trying to do everything. Everything’s a possibility. Everything is an option. Anything to get out of where you currently are. But that is equally overwhelming because your mind is spinning. So why do anything? Maybe it’d be better to numb or to seek comfort, to drink, to indulge.

Pair a rough day at work with a poor spiritual life, and anxiety rears its ugly head.

On that day, I decided to go for a run. Now, I run like a dwarf. Like Gimli in The Two Towers. But on that day, I had so much anxious energy, I ran six miles like a stallion. Running has frequently been an outlet in my life when the world seems to be spinning faster than I can handle. It has a way of clearing the mind and settling the soul and getting the body to calm down. After the run was done, and I could breath again I felt like I could take clear action.

Anxiety is a confusing state to be in. It’s a spiritual condition, but it manifests itself physically, and we deal with it physically. We deal with it by overeating, under-sleeping, drinking. Some people turn to drugs or medication. We do something to or with our physicality to deal with it. It doesn’t just have to be anxiety; it could be stress or being overwhelmed, it could be turmoil, it could be pain of soul. There is something that happens in our soul through the sorrows and roughness of life that manifests itself physically.

We have to take care of it physically first in order to then deal with our soul.

I believe exercise, whether in a gym, in the wilderness, or doing manual labor, is a tool and a gift that helps us deal with the circumstances of life that batter us on all sides.

There are two aspects of exercise that I would like to cover in relation to our spiritual life:

1. Exercise as training for spiritually hard times.

2. Exercise as relief from spiritually hard times.

Training For Spiritually Hard Times

There is no escaping the hardships of life. No amount of maxxing1 will help anyone escape hardship.

Suffering is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. Some people suffer extraordinary things. Most of us suffer the regular things of life. I have found that one of the best ways to prepare for the hardship of life, to build fortitude of soul, courage of the heart, and clearness of mind, is intense bouts of exercise. It doesn’t really matter what the exercise is, as long as it is strenuous2.

Strenuous workouts should feel like suffering. You should be in a fight with yourself over whether you’re going to quit or not because life will make you want to quit.

I love workouts set up to make me suffer. That might sound like a crazy thing to say, but it’s true. For well over fifteen years, I have preferred to do workouts that make me wonder if I have what it takes to complete what I set out to do. For more than ten years, I have not listened to music while I exercise because I want to fight with myself inside my head. I want to be so uncomfortable that I can justify quitting. And I fight keep moving forward. So much of your life will have that question in your head: am I going to continue to move forward, or am I going to give up?

Giving up could manifest itself in a lot of ways:

• Checking out

• Running away

• Lying

• Overeating

• Fast food

• Gambling

• Pornography

• Drinking

• Scrolling

• Sleeping too much or not sleeping at all.

• or any of the other addictive behaviors that we take on to calm our soul

When you are doing strenuous exercise you are training the body and you are training your soul to not give up. The goal of these types of workouts is mental and spiritual fortitude. It’s cultivating endurance, which is needed for life.

Endurance is key. In Luke 21, Jesus says, “by your endurance, you will gain your lives.” The word endurance in Greek is Hupomone.

It means:

A courageous endurance that defies evil; Far from being passive, this quality involves an active resistance to hostile powers; It describes a wounded soldier who endures the pain and keeps fighting the enemy; it describes the ability of a plant to live under harsh conditions; it describes a man who loves honor more than anything else and stands firm in the face of those who would persuade him to act dishonestly.

In short, it’s a conquering constancy, a steadfastness in the face of pressure to give in. It does not guarantee victory. But this patience, this steadfastness is admirable. It’s Godly.

Strenuous exercise is training the Hupomone in you.

Exercise as Relief from Spiritually Hard Times.

Situations like I shared in the story above happened to all of us. You could be having a hard time at work; your wife could have had a miscarriage. You could be having a hard time finding a place to live; you could have gotten reamed at work.

In those moments, we want to turn to God in prayer but something seems to be keeping us from doing it. The anxiety in our body, the restlessness of our hands, the turmoil of our minds. It keeps us from turning to the Prince of Peace. Clarity of thought has disappeared. How on Earth are we supposed to talk to God?

It wasn’t too long ago I was going through one of those spiritually hard times. Life was just difficult. I was frustrated, angry. Honestly, I was indulging the emotions instead of battling them. I would try to pray, but I couldn’t get my mind to settle, so I tossed my prayer book to the side and quit.

What I should have done was go for a run.

I think exercise is a gift of God for our relief so that we can pray. You may be able to talk to God when you’re under pressure or anxious but listening? When there is too much noise in the mind, how are we to listen?

Often in the Gospels, Jesus goes out on a mountain to pray. There’s probably a lot of reasons why that little detail is added. Climbing a mountain does make it seem like you’re closer to God, the great prophets in the Old Testament climbed mountains to pray, and it’s quiet up there.

I have one suggestion: Jesus did that to clear his head. His life was hard. His life was more difficult, more strained, and heavier than anything you and I have ever carried. He would spend all day preaching, walking, healing, being accused of being from Satan, of having a demon, people demanding a sign, accused, accused, accused. He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, but he had to pray; he needed his Father. So he’d climb a mountain, clear his head, and then pray.

Jesus had a mission. He could not check out, numb, or disengage. There was too much at stake. He had to endure all things. You also have a mission and you cannot check out, numb, or disengage. There is too much at stake. You must endure.

There is no greater rest for the soul and for the mind than time with God in prayer. It is a rest that strengthens. Sometimes you have to get all the junk out of the way first. Sometimes you have to go run. Sometimes you have to go climb a mountain. Sometimes you need to go hit a punching bag. You will feel so much better after you do those things! And then forget to pray.

That’s the perfect time to pray. You’ve cleared the junk, and now you can find the help you need.

I discovered this prayer from St. Augustine a couple of years ago. It has become my post-exercise-during-hard-times prayer. When life is hard and I feel overwhelmed, I try to go do some exercise so that I can then pray this prayer.

And after I say that prayer, I’ve added a few words of my own, asking the Lord to grant me courage:

Why ask for courage and not endurance?

Because courage is the ability to endure without fear. The overwhelmed man can easily become discouraged. A discouraged man is a hollowed out man,

So instead of overeating or drinking, try exercise followed by prayer. Both are a gift from God.

Strenuous Exercises

One of my favorite strenuous exercises is Rucking. It is great at building mental fortitude. You put a weighted backpack on and you walk for 45 minutes to an hour. About 10 minutes in, your shoulders hurt. At about 20 minutes in, you’ll do anything to get that backpack off your shoulders, especially when you first start. Once it’s done, you feel like you could jump on top of a house. The physical condition needed to ruck is minimal. You just need a willingness to walk and a willingness to bear some pain on your shoulders. It will do little damage to your joints, because the most weight you’re putting on your back is 40 lb.

Another great workout compound movements with 20+ reps. Compound movements use multiple joints: bench press, squat, dead lift, thruster. The weight doesn’t have to be heavy, but try doing multiple sets of 20 reps. What you will notice after two sets, no matter what weight you choose, right around 12 to 15 reps, you’re going to want to find a reason to put the weight down or to get it off your back. At that point, it’s not a muscle game, it’s a mental game. Try it and see where your head goes. You will run through more reasons and justifications to set the weight down than you could possibly imagine.

A combo I am loving lately is 10-20. 10 heavier reps followed immediately by 20 lighter reps. This is a perfect combo for kettlebells. 10 reps at a high weight, then 20 reps at a lighter weight. If you have to take a break before you reach 30 total reps, the entire set doesn’t count. You can do this with pushups, body weight squats and the ruck, and even sit ups. Have one of your kids sit on your chest for 10 reps. 3-5 total sets is perfect.

There are individual exercises that are great for building up mental fortitude. Wall sits, planks, handstand holds, biking (especially the assault bike), jumping rope.

I hope you’re doing well.

This newsletter contains an exciting announcement for me and my wife. You’ll have to read till the very end to see what it is, or you could scroll down to the very end to see what it is and then read this newsletter. You should read the newsletter first, because then the surprise will be better.

Reading the lives of great men awakens a fire that I cannot explain nor put out. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, a biography written about his life up until the presidency, had me wanting to scale mountains and speak out against all injustice. As I was reading The History of the Peloponnesian War, the speeches had me wanting to tackle a bear. The story of St. Athanasius stirs in me a desire to defend to the death orthodoxy, and King David has me walking in the full assurance of God’s faithfulness. Ernest Shackleton, the man who saved all of his men from imminent death by his fortitude taught me to live as if other people would die if I did not fulfill my duty. After reading each of these stories I am inspired to strive to be a great man.

The story of Caleb is one of those fan into flame stories. I hope you’re familiar with the story of Caleb. If not, you can read about him in Numbers chapters 14 and 15, and then again in Joshua 14. Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent into the Promised Land by Moses to spy out the land, and he was one of the two who came back and gave a good report to Moses. It was him and Joshua.

To fully understand this story, it’s good to read it a couple of times and then allow yourself to sit and think and imagine what this would have been like for these men. They go into the land that’s a good land. It’s flowing with milk and honey, which means it’s good for livestock and agriculture and raising families. It’s a good land, but it’s full of giants. Like everything good, somebody has already taken possession of it, maybe not for good use.

The people bring back a report. “It’s great, but there are giants in the land. We can’t have it.” They aren’t even willing to try. These 10 men, instead of having faith and trying, decide its best if the convince the people to cower. They’re spreading this word to the whole congregation of Israel, thousands and thousands of people, hearing this report and becoming a frightened mob. We all know what happens when mobs start talking to each other: they start shouting, they start exaggerating, and rumors are spread. Chaos ensues. Suddenly it’s not a few giants in the land but an army of giants!

Mobs quickly get out of control, and they naturally start to revolt. The inclination of most is to get out of their way and head to safety. But not Caleb. Caleb was of a different spirit. He was wholehearted, as his name means. He’s not afraid of a giant, and he’s not afraid of a mob, which might be scarier than a giant. He takes his ground and proclaims to the people, Joshua by his side, “This is a good land. This is ours. The Lord is with us. We are going to go and take possession of this land.”

Caleb is the one who did the right thing. He’s the one who stood his ground. He’s the one who tried to convince the people to trust the Lord. He’s the one who bore the brunt of the insults hurled at him. He also shares, in part, in the consequence. He doesn’t die away in the wilderness, but he can’t enter the Promised Land either. He had to watch an entire generation pass away in the wilderness and rebel and complain. He was delayed in taking what he knew could be his because his generation was full of whiners and complainers. Just because we stand our ground doesn’t mean the tides will change.

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I want to be like Caleb but I'm not like Caleb. Maybe sometimes I am. Most of the time I'm not. Most of the time I'm like the other ten. I see the potential. I see the good. I see what could be, but there are giants in the land. You might be the same way. Maybe most of us are not like Caleb. Maybe we've all forgotten that every good land (and every good thing) is full of giants.

Maybe the first step in becoming like Caleb is to recognize we're standing with the other ten who stirred the mob from all the hearts. As I'm writing this essay, simultaneously thinking about all the times I cowered to the mob that did not stand my ground against myself, not beating myself up, recognizing that I'm not who I want to be, but there is still time to become who I want to be.

When did we become so soft? When did our lives become about optimizing comfort, avoiding hardship, and manufacturing a life free of struggle? When did we start expecting there to be a welcoming party after crossing the Jordan? A cynical person might think it's our generation, or any generation that is not their generation. But it’s not GenZ or Millennials or the boomers. Each generation has a group stirring up a mob in fear and each generation has a Caleb (and hopefully more than one Caleb).

The day comes when Caleb does get to enter the Promised Land. He’s part of the armies of Judah. They go and take out the people they need to take out. He fights battles, takes ground, and has a big family. He’s starting to come to the end of his life (see Joshua 14). He’s 85 years old. He’s probably walking with a staff or a cane. His knees are probably creaking and shaky. His shoulders probably aren’t as broad as they use to be and they’re drooping. He is hunched over. But he’s still got a whole heart, a boldness, a fierceness. He’s magnanimous. He’s probably what Aristotle would consider a great man, an Andreia man.

At 85 years old, with his whole family, he goes up to Joshua and reminds him of the promise that was made to him, one he’s been holding deep in his heart. He reminds Joshua of that time they stood before the mob and told them the Promised Land is good land. He says this line:

“I am now 85 years old, and I’m still as strong as I was in the day of Moses.”

It is difficult to picture an 85 year old, battle worn man as physically strong as he was 40 years prior. But to the wholehearted man, it doesn’t matter. A wholehearted man has a strength you can’t measure.

Take a moment to imagine this scene. Here’s an 85-year-old man, staff in hand. He has his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren standing behind him. In those days, everyone had a lot of children, so it’s not unreasonable to think that there’s at least 120 standing behind him. He’s facing Joshua and reminding him of the promise that was made to him all those years ago. He is showcasing his fortitude and his strength by standing there, surrounded by his own army. Full of faith. Full of life. Full of fight, he proclaims:

“So give me this mountain.”

“It may be that the Lord will give it to me. 85 years old, a life full of battles, delivered out of the bonds of slavery, and he’s still got some fight in him.”

At 85 he is still unafraid to go take a mountain full of armies and giants.

The name of a man or a woman has a prophetic nature. The mother and father see who their son or daughter could become. The first act of parenting a new child is to give them a name, to declare what they hope their child will be, and then to raise them in such a way that they become who they were named to be. His father knew who he would become, but Caleb's whole-heartedness is not nature alone. It's grace-filled. Grace perfects nature. God has made you a certain way. He has made me a certain way, but he has not left us as orphans. He has given us a nature that he wants to empower with his grace.

As I read the text, I don’t get a sense that Caleb naturally became wholehearted. In fact, the Lord Himself says He has a different spirit, almost like Caleb had cultivated something within himself that made him wholehearted. As a boy, he probably faced his fears with God’s help, pushed aside doubt with God’s help, and as a young man to trust God in little things, then slightly bigger things, until he was unafraid of giants. Uncultivated nature with grace does not suddenly become a man who stands before a mob. It’s almost like the two grew up together into a man who is not afraid of giant mobs or giant men.

There's a temptation, at least for me, to think God made me this way but it's up to me alone to live up to it. God isn't that way. He is an ever present help in the time of need. I'm not a Pelagian, which was a heresy of the fourth century. Pelagius thought man could live up to his full potential and could lead a sinless life apart from the grace of God. We may not be Pelagian in doctrine, but we might be in action or in thought.

God made Caleb wholehearted by nature, but wholeheartedness won't conquer giants by nature. Caleb knew that. That's why he reminded the Israelites, and he reminded Joshua, and he reminded his sons all his days that it might just be God is with us and will give us victory in this land full of giants.

I want to be a man like Caleb. I want to be a wholehearted man today, tomorrow, and at 85, should I live long enough. I want to be able to say to the Lord, “I am as strong today as I was back then. Give me this mountain.” I hope at 85 I still see a battle to fight, a mountain to take, a land to conquer, and I hope my soul is willing to go after it just like Caleb.

I said above that the name of a man has a prophetic nature. It’s a statement of what the father sees in his son or daughter and who they could become. I said it’s the first act of parenting to give the child a name and to declare what they hope their child will be, and then to raise them in such a way that they become who they were named to be. I named my first son Benaiah because I knew he would be a doer of great deeds, just like the mighty man of valor who was captain of King David’s bodyguard.

I love this story so much, and I admire this man so much, that I named my fourth child and second son Caleb. I just met him, but already I see a man who will be full of faith, full of fight, and full of life. A true wholehearted man.

Happy Wednesday.

Family life is on my mind a lot lately so it’s what I am writing about. I am loving seeing men take up a mantle online to talk about the wonders of being a father. We are not a pro-life culture (and I mean that in the broadest sense, not just abortion) and we are pro-choice as far as we can take it. What I see online is men, good men, responding and offering once again a different and better option.

One of those men runs a Substack called Grounded Builder. He wrote a great essay on his 40th birthday that I recommend reading. You can find it here.

Also, I recently organized my website. All the articles are organized by topic and easy to find. The topics I organized by are:

• Saints and Greats (about great men)

• Young Men (directed primarily at those under 35)

• Bible Me (lessons I’ve learned from the Scriptures)

• Work and Career (Be a Kingdom advocate at work)

• Family Life (the center and gravity of civilization)

Don’t forget, you can hop on the chat anytime. It’s usually…

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I’m finishing up this newsletter on my phone at approximately 2:28am. (Please excuse any typos). My children are determined to not let me sleep tonight. My most recent waking (around 1:30am) was from my son who needed more stuffed animals. He just called for me again actually…

And I’m back.

I said “latest waking” above but I haven’t actually fell asleep. I was thinking about today’s topic in between interruptions. I’m reminded often God calls in the night. It could be that God is taking an opportunity to remind me my children need me - and your children need you. It may seem unimportant to you (such as extra stuffed animals) but to them it’s “dad to the rescue”. I remember as a child calling out to my dad in the middle of the night. I don’t remember for what but I’m sure he does.

In this newsletter I want to talk about getting more out of your bible reading by utilizing your imagination. This is a skill, it takes practice, and it’s far from easy. But it will allo…

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I hope you are all doing well today. It is 90 degrees up here in New England, a nice change from the brutal winter we experienced just a few months ago.

Just a reminder, I am taking submissions to some questions for a personal research project. You can find those questions and how to answer here. Your responses are helpful to me, thank you!

Today, I am sharing a story and lesson from my day job - something we talked about in our sales meeting yesterday. There are moral implications when clients ask for the “cheap route”. We are going to look at them. If you own a business or manage a business, I think the takeaway will be helpful to you.

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What do you think that phrase means? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Just before this verse Paul was proclaiming the Kingdom when some Jews came down to stone him just as he had allowed Stephen to be stoned. Assuming he was dead, they dragged his body out of the city and left him there. Take a moment to picture that scene in your imagination.

Some disciples went out of the city to find Paul’s body. As they surrounded him, he picked himself up off the ground, and stumbled his way back into the city. What courage! Earlier in Paul’s life, before the Damascus Road, he participated and witnessed the stoning of Stephen. Preaching to the Jews and urging them to unharden their hearts, to believe in Christ, cost him his life. At Lystra, Paul finds himself in the same situation Stephen was in just a fe…

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Fr. Larry Richard’s opens his book “Be a Man!” with a sobering statement: “You are going to die.” Who wants to think about that? Not me said everyone reading!

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We go about our full and busy days hardly giving heed to tomorrow or next year, never mind 10 years, 30 years if we are to be on earth that long. Maybe in the morning or late at night we contemplate our end amidst our ever growing to do list. But probably not, especially if you’re under 40. But it’s the reality we are all going to face. Possibly today, maybe in 40 years, your time on earth will be up (and probably forgotten) and you will pass into the next life.

Approximately 8,500 people die every day in the United States which is approximately 350 deaths every hour. That’s diverse enough to assume many are not dying after a life well lived or a life long lived. It could happen to you and to me at any moment.

Life is a vapor, a mist passing away.

I think about two things more often than the…

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What are the hard things a man should do?

There are some hard things every man should take on regularly: strenuous exercise, fasting, limited sleep (for a good purpose, not for Netflix), extended prayer times, climbing a mountain, extra unpaid work.

Then there are the hard things that cultivate the virtue of fortitude like fertilizer during a spring rain that men skip out all the time. We justify skipping these hard things because of the activities above. We all know those above activities are difficult. And easy at the same time. But that hard things that will grow a man are passed over for comfort.

Like not defending yourself when your wife is …

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We’ve been working with clients and home insurance companies to repair the home. One client has approximately $45k in damage. Insurance is able to pay about $12k. This is not an article about corrupt insurance companies so please don’t let low payouts distract you.

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The point of this article is emergency situations are bound to happen. They are often outside your control (like weather) and they hit at inconvenient times. We had a client a year ago come home from vacation to find a puddle in their kitchen. The neighbor’s washing machine broke while they were away and it flooded my cli…

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You are given 168 hours every week. Each one of them is given to you as a gift to use how you choose. Some of us are at our job far too many hours, some of us are looking to escape our jobs. Jobaholics is a better word than workaholic because jobaholics tend to neglect every other necessary work in their life such as parenting, maintaining their living space, and cultivating friendships. And those who want to escape work for a perpetual vacation (or whatever other reason) do not realize how essential work is to a thriving life.

For sake of simplicity, we a separate our time into three categories: work, leisure, and idleness.

Work: everything you give your effort and energy to. Not your job alone but all other responsibilities including housework, parenting, associations you’re part of, networking, vol…

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The ideas of Rousseau and Marx were popular enough in their day (Marx especially) but Rousseau’s affect on society at large was unnoticed in the West until some professors got a hold of his works in American universities. More than anyone, Rousseau can take the credit for the rise and triumph of the modern self - a book aptly title by Carl Trueman. Rousseau believed human being are corrupted by society. If circumstances were different, people would stay innocent. He believed in the triumph of inner feelings. He believed in liberty from oppressive society. Carl Trueman writes in his book that Rousseau’s ideas combined with other philosophers such as Marx and Freud led t…

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