Letter To Old Men

Dear Older Men,

We respectfully request the honor of your presence on the battlefield for our lives.  The tactics of the enemy are overwhelmingly successful.  It is evident that there is no longer hope for an immediate solution.  The enemy’s attack requires weaponry we are not sufficiently able to operate.  We are loosing this battle and many more will, according to the score of casualties, be lost by us.  It is now incumbent, upon those who are able and willing, to inspire the survivors and train the untested.  While this must be done with vigor and urgency, we believe it can only be done over time.  Please confirm.

We have reached this critical point by seeking easy routes through enemy controlled lands that end in his camps.  It is now evident that these routes were ploys and never led through the territory.  The roads we must travel are narrow, steep, winding and difficult.  The journey is long and cannot be undertaken alone.  It can in fact only be taken in company of warriors who are focused and committed to both the journey and the destination.  It is in this effort that we so desperately need your help.

We have come to understand that this journey requires knowledge, wisdom and certain other critical capacities that are only gained by extensive experience.  None of the young men yet benefit from time on the road.  They are impatient, foolish and susceptible to the subtle, distracting tactics of the enemy he has developed so carefully for so long.  However, they have great passion, hope, ideals and boundless energy.  Excellent assets when matched with yours.

We know this is a long, slow, painstaking effort.  We have tested and nearly exhausted all other options.  There is nothing left but to follow the road where it leads, through whatever challenges and dangers it brings and however long it takes.  We know many will be wounded and some will turn back.  But we are called forward.  There is glory and victory to be had that is unmatched in our current circumstances.  We are unsatisfied with this world’s offerings.  There is nothing left for us but what lies ahead, above and beyond. 

Please come forward and claim your position as our mentors, leaders, teachers, guides and healers.  Those of us in mid-life have not yet recovered from the damage we have done to ourselves.  We are not finished but we need your reassurance and encouragement.  We need your tested and proven strength to measure against.  We struggle to separate the good ideas from the eternal truths; we need your help in that as well. 

The younger men are aimless, distracted and lazy.  They know almost nothing useful.  There are a few who can see that there is a great worthy cause and a company of warriors to join but they do not see clearly.  It will take all our effort to save them.  If we do not, in a decade or two, they will be lost and there is no one behind them to take their place.  We believe that this effort is for the lives and communities of the next two decades and into the future. 

Our foggy, bright goals are set far ahead.  As of yet they are not fully defined.  We expect focus to come to the brightness as we move forward.

Even now, we are preparing, expecting your affirmation and partnership.  We are gathering in garages under the hoods of old trucks, in woodshops under clouds of sawdust and in coffee shops surrounded by twitchy caffeine addicts.  Please join us.  We need your help desperately.  None of us, young or middle aged, has earned the deeper marks of experience.  We love poorly.  We give grace miserly.  We forgive slowly.  We lack self-control.  We loose hope quickly.  We are not long-suffering.  Our character is undeveloped.  We are not at peace.  We are kind with irregularity.  Our joy is interrupted easily by circumstance.  Our goodness is tenuous.  We use gentleness to get our way.  We serve infrequently and our willingness to sacrifice is hesitant. 

We have good hearts.  We love our God and those around us.  But, we are incomplete and in need of fathering.  We are confident that with your help, we will be powerful beyond measure and the enemy will not be able to stand against us.  So far, we have yet to see any weapons in his arsenal that are any defense at all against those we have been given.  Please join us in this critical season.  The Kingdom of Heaven is near, let us follow the King and see it firmly established.

In view of past error and lack of attention, please accept our sincerest apologies for not listening.  Your forgiveness is humbly requested and desperately needed for all our sakes.

Yours truly,

The Younger Men