The Need for Community

There's a great interview with progressive Christian minister Erwin McManus and WIE editor Carter Phipps in the recent Men's edition of What Is Enlightenment magazine, which I found laden with pearls. This is one the bits I resonated with (in answer to a question of the benefits and shortcomings of the two major men's movements in the last twenty years: the Promise Keepers, and the Iron John movement):

"There's an interesting proverb that says hope deferred makes the heart sick. If you elevate this hope – this sense of belief that something beautiful and true and good can happen from your life, that you can live a life of real integrity and be a good person of character and wisdom – but then you don't provide a process to help them succeed, they're going to stop believing in the vision.
It's important to get in touch with the primal masculinity, which I think both of those groups did. It's important to get in touch with tour sense of manhood, to dig deep, ands to find the courage, resolve and resilience to live a life of honour and nobility. At the same time – and I know this just from being in L.A. for the last sixteen years – the most well-intended person, if not given a process to move towards success, will stumble and fall and then come to the conclusion that while someone else can succeed, he just can't pull it off, can't live that life. So I think it's also important to say: "Here's a process. Here are steps you can take". In the best case scenario, you need to find people who will journey with you, people who will mentor you and help you along the way.
What's why community is so critical. We don't' need someone with us all the time, but we d need community some of the time. There are critical transition moments where it's really essential".