How can we help our kids enjoy adolescence while intentionally moving beyond it? One book written on this that I’ve read multiple times is Adam’s Return by Richard Rohr. Rohr writes about five rules of manhood, five definitive things that have been poured into men in almost every other culture to help shape them and form them away from childish ways. These rules are: (1) Life is hard, (2) you are not important, (3) your life is not about you, (4) you are not in control, and (5) you are going to die. Sounds like wonderful news, right? Stick with me. These rules are all true, no matter how hard they might sound, and almost all cultures have had ways of helping men understand these rules — except modern culture. What does our culture tell us? Life should be easy, you’re important, your life is about you, you should try…
This story is from Common Good issue 10.