Mental Health Monday

EYES + ROAD TRIPS + REAL MEN

           Tomorrow it will be a week since I had the cataract procedure on my left eye. [My right eye gets done on 9/18, I think.] My vision is still somewhat blurry, which makes reading & other close work a chore, but I think I'm making slow but steady progress. Driving doesn't seem to be an issue, although I'm not sure I should be driving at night yet.
          Yesterday we went to Beef Blast. I feel a little more sure of myself each year since I left LHNE. Crowds tend to make me anxious, but I was better at not feeling too self-conscious.
          My eyesight made church a little bit of a challenge yesterday, since I had trouble reading from the worship folder & hymnal. Church is still a highpoint of the week for me. It's as close as a mountain-top experience as is possible in my weekly routine.
          This THU I go to Grand Island where I will be volunteering at the Lutheran Hour Ministries booth. I did this two years ago & enjoyed it. My shift is 6-hours long, which in hindsight is probably a little too long, but I'll also have time to do some wandering through the Fair. If only I can keep from submitting to the temptation of deep-fried foods!
          On FRI we'll go to Eagan, MN, to spend Labor Day weekend w/Nathan, Laura, & Calvin. We'll be back in Norfolk, & I'll leave for Concordia already that THU for the 45th reunion of the St. Paul's College Class of '73. I think it's the first reunion our college class has ever had, & I'm looking forward to renewing some acquaintances. Unfortunately, Lois can't go along because of her school responsibilities. She will already have to "spend" some personal days when we fly to our niece Katie's wedding in OCT & again when we go to Washington, DC, in DEC for our late brother-in-law's memorial service at Arlington.

Thought for Today

REAL MEN ARE NEEDED

“Right now, the world needs men. Real men. Manly men. Strong men. Courageous men. Christ-like men. Masculine men. Men who will give of themselves for the good of their wives, their children, their communities, their congregations, their countries. The Church needs men, too. She needs men to be the spiritual leaders of their families—husbands who will love & forgive their wives as Christ loves & forgives His Church; fathers who will catechize their children in the faith & set the example for them in the pew of what man forgiven by Jesus Christ is & does. The Church needs older men who will mentor younger men. She needs martyrs who will boldly confess Christ in the face of persecution. Above all, the Church needs men who will work to solve the problem of toxic masculinity by embracing God’s call to embody the higher, holier, selfless masculinity they found in Jesus.”  From “The Toxic & the True,” by Jeffrey Hemmer, Lutheran Witness, June/July 2018.