In the novel, Black River, a man returns home to settle scores with a former convict. The setting is a small town in Montana: As a child, Wes thought the slopes of the mountain ranges looked like the hands of giants, each ravine or peak delineating fingers and knuckles…. Today, they resembled clenched fists about to collide. (1) Rugged terrai...

The following was originally published in Sword&Spade magazine.  You ca download the spread from the magazine here.  -- By Terry Rumore My brother and I, who own a small mechanic shop, had to answer this question after reading a priest friend’s blog on properly reverencing Catholic holy days, and then later being challenged by a cl...

As I argue in the video and course Leaving Boyhood Behind, Jesus being lost in the Temple is the story Luke uses to mark the transition of Jesus away from his boyhood and toward his life as a man – it’s his rite of passage.  As he leaves the Temple with Mary and Joseph, we are told he went obediently and "lived there in subjection to them.” ...

As I argue in Leaving Boyhood Behind, it's not just fathers and sons who need the wisdom of the rite of passage. Mothers need it too. A boy's transition away from his mother into manhood can be very difficult for a mother, due to the unique relationship a mother shares with her child. The growth of a boy into manhood can even be an experience of de...

The following is an adapted excerpt from Leaving Boyhood Behind by Jason Craig. In Rudyard Kipling's coming-of-age novel Captains Courageous, a spoiled, rich teenager named Harvey is initiated into manhood through a series of adventures on a fishing vessel. Separated from his wealthy family, he gets thrown in with real men, the sort with quick wi...

Our grandson Ben began playing baseball in the Des Moines area with a team known as the Rockies at age six and continued with them until their final game at fourteen. The Rockies were wildly successful in terms of wins and losses through those years and we joined in on the fun, rarely missing a game. In the process, we became friends with his team...

By: Ted Rebard Fraudulent admission to universities has seen much press recently, and deservedly. In a few instances, beyond this, it has, and I believe more importantly been noted, that there are least two further and more widespread frauds involving university admission and attendance. First, it is simply false to imagine that everyone should, ...

When I first sat down to write this, I was adamant about my purpose: I wanted to rant that men are oppressed by forces that are no fault of their own. That man’s oppression is the fault of women. Or maybe culture. I wanted to project my feelings of frustration with the current state of manhood onto something else or someone else. I wanted to ...

Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). The following is taken from chapter 2 of Leaving Boyhood Behind. Some transitions in life are so radical that the old form of life simply cannot continue into the new form; the old form must give way and the new form b...

By: Michael Heinser “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” ― G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain Notre Dame burned.  I can’t think of a more poignant picture of Western Culture than the image of smoke pouring from the cathedral as the three hundred foot ...