Wednesday, January 8, 2003
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Wednesday, January 8, 2003 |
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Books for guys who like books
By MONROE
ROARK I'm off to a decent start on one of my biggest New Year's resolutions, which is to do a great deal more reading in 2003. The goal is to plow through 25 books by the end of the year, and I'm in the middle of the second one already. There's no ironclad list; I'm waiting to see how the best-seller lists develop in the coming months and make my own selections as I go. There will be a mix of topics and probably about one in three will be fiction. The first two selections of the year deal largely with the three most important roles in my life: Christian, husband and father. I received as a Christmas present a copy of "Finishing Strong" by Steve Farrar, a nationally known speaker and writer who does a lot of work with men's issues in Christian circles. The title refers to the ever-important task of staying consistent throughout life with regard to family responsibilities and honoring God. Farrar begins with a fascinating story of three evangelists taking the United States by storm in 1945. All were widely praised and poised for decades of influence through their ministries. One of them was Billy Graham, who obviously lived up to the hype. The other two were out of the ministry within five years and one was dead in 10. From this introduction, Farrar discusses the snares that entangle men in all walks of life and cause them to forsake their obligations to their wives and children and tarnish their reputations and leadership abilities. Among the major problems cited are the temptations that lead husbands into infidelity and wreck marriages, as well as the pressures to succeed in the workplace that often cause men to ignore family concerns until it is too late. Farrar also shows how men can stay the course and look back on a lifetime of positive influence on their families and everyone else they come in contact with. My latest reading assignment is actually one my wife picked up for herself the other day. It's called "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson, perhaps the foremost authority in the country on families. A couple of years ago we acquired another of his works, "The Strong-Willed Child." See a pattern here? Like many of you reading this column have done before me, I am experiencing firsthand the wonder of how a 4-year-old boy can be positively adorable and absolutely frustrating at the same time. Dobson spends some time in the initial chapters talking about how surprise! boys and girls are actually different. Reminding us that civilization has known this for thousands of years, he documents scientific evidence that is now available to back it up. Refuting the morons out there who would make men more like women and women more like men, which only confuses children, he emphasizes the importance of recognizing the differences between the genders and appreciating their uniqueness. Another subtopic that cannot, in my opinion, be overemphasized is the breakdown of the traditional American family and how modern culture has waged war against the values that have produced successful families for centuries. While acknowledging that different family models exist today often out of necessary, Dobson shows that mothers and fathers have distinct and vitally important roles in the lives of boys and girls alike, and their influence, for good and bad, cannot be emphasized enough. The first days of any new year are an ideal time to review one's goals in life, especially relating to family. How is my marriage? What are the needs of my spouse and children physically, emotionally and spiritually and how can I better provide them? Am I spending enough time with my family? These are questions that should be asked often, from the time a couple walks down the aisle until that same couple's children walk down the aisle, and beyond. Regardless of a person's position in the workplace, if that person has children, molding them into the right kind of adults is the most important job he or she will ever have. To that end, keeping our priorities in order is an absolute necessity. No one, on his or her deathbed, ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." I recommend any of James Dobson's books for anyone who is married and has children. "Finishing Strong" is a good book for any adult male. I hope your reading this year is as enjoyable and enlightening as mine. [Monroe Roark's Web address is www.mroark.com.]
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