A True Man

I had a bittersweet day last week. I said so long to one of my godsons. He's entering the Marines with aspirations of being a pilot. I have a few scenes stuck in my head like one after church when he's about 5 and comes up on the platform to sit beside me after church. I can't remember what we talked about but we chatted while he swung his feet back and forth because they didn't touch the floor yet. I remember thinking even at 5 years old, he was talking like a little man. He's 24 now. On the day he left I wrote these words to him. Maybe they can be something you share with a young man in your life.

 

A TRUE MAN
(by Shawn Craig)

Some say a man is the sum of his strength,
The brawls he can win, the beasts he can beat
Some say a man is the width of his chest,
The size of his shoulders, the breadth of his neck

Some judge a man by his height and his weight,
The force of his arms, the length of his gait,
They look at the stats of his speed or his skill
And gage his true worth by his body and build

But what is a man ‘tho stronger than steel
Who fails to restrain his lust or his will
Who follows the crowd and bullies the weak
Who wastes all his days and squanders his strength

He might be a bully, a monster or brute,
A kid with tough skin, a thug in a suit,
He might be courageous, he might look the part,
But he’s not a man, although he has brawn

But if there’s a rock for those who are weak
If there’s a servant who honors his King
If there is one who will swallow his pride
And share every win with those by his side

If he is brave, but knows how to cry,
If he has heart and knows how to die,
If he is steel that knows when to bend,
Then there’s a true man…there’s a true prince!