Do you remember studying
the American Revolutionary War in middle school or high school and hearing the
term “Minute Men?” Just in case you
don’t, or it only sounds vaguely familiar, let me refresh your memory. Minute
Men, according to Wikpedia Encyclopedia, were “selected men of great
reliability, strength, and enthusiasm” who vowed to be ready for war, at any
time, in two minutes! As a woman, that
blows my mind! I can hardly apply
mascara in two minutes!
Minute Men were
leaders; committed to their cause. Most “were provided neither arms nor
uniforms and had to equip themselves.” Can you imagine what discipline and
passion these men possessed? Are there any Minute Men left today? YES there are many!!! But you won’t find them on T.V., rarely at the
box office, nor in the video games, nor on most radio stations…maybe on the
internet if you find a good site. (www.promisekeepers.org is a good one!)
In a recent Choose
to Wait high school presentation I asked a group of teens to define
manhood. The entire class was silent. They were at a loss for words (which is rare
when you have a room full of teenagers)!
When pressed further, this group of astute teens couldn’t think of a
single male role-model that finely depicted manhood on television today. Men are not respected, not revered, not
admired, and are usually depicted as sex-crazed, bumbling buffoons in today’s
media. Yet there are plenty of men who
live in this sexually overexposed society who discipline themselves daily to
live lifestyles of integrity.
Minute Men of
today are not provided any uniform of integrity by our society. They must be
prepared, at any time, to be assaulted and accosted by pornographic
imagery. They must equip themselves
daily with discipline in order to NOT act on impulses that trot through their
minds when scantily clad females walk by their paths, appear on their computer
screens, & walk into their living rooms through a television set.
Could it be any
more difficult to be a Minute Man today?
I think not, yet, many exist. If
you know one; respect him. If you are
one, be strong and encouraged; you are not alone! If you don’t think enough exist please
continue your prayers and support for our abstinence education programs, Choose
to Wait and Transformed where we are
restoring honor, strength, and integrity to thousands of young men…and
encouraging young women to respect men for such. Together we ARE making a difference!
Tracey Pike
Director of Abstinence Education
