| INTRODUCTION A lovely lady I know once suggested that I write a book about sexual morality and young men. Honestly, there are a bunch of them out there; most young men don't want to read them, and to be honest, when I was a boy, I didn't want to read them either. And, most of them seem to be written by religious figures, health care professionals, and the like. So I passed. Who needs one more lecture or sermon? Then she pointed out to me that there really wasn't much out there that told the story of an old broken down former playboy who had pretty much trashed his own love life. And that sometimes, to appreciate white, you have to understand black. So I sat down and here's Joey's story. Who knows, maybe a playboy can teach your son ... or grandson a thing or two? The words that follow are excerpted from the Introduction to A Bridge to Nowhere. We live in a society filled with men who never discovered within themselves the best they could be, until they saw in themselves the worst they had become. No surprise there, it's often the way life deals the cards ... or, maybe better, the way we choose to play the hand. As men, let's be honest, to get what we want from life, don't we often take that long and winding road ... the road less traveled ... or, simply the back door. Admit it; we often make it hard on ourselves ... and others. Christian teaching tells us that even Jesus Christ Himself went through hell to get to heaven ... took the long route ... though I think His purpose was far more noble. And for Him, the final destination, far more certain. When we were boys, we imagined the man we would become as an adult; a man of strength, character, and courage. A man to be admired. A success. Late tonight, when you look into your bathroom mirror, try to find that man. If you see no one staring back who looks anything like him, don't feel alone ... you're not... ... As men, much of our self-image and self-respect in invested in our sexuality how we use it, and how we abuse it. One of life's sternest lessons that we all eventually learn is that a man cannot be a coward in one aspect of his life and courageous in the others ... character cannot be compartmentalized. The man who loves his wife and respects both himself and his marriage will not spend his life lying, stealing, and cheating his way to the top. And the man who spends his life chasing the easiest bimbo available will not be a pillar of his community, his church, or even his marriage. Ultimately, we men will live in a manner consistent with the way in which we express our sexuality. We will come to understand that our behavior with our date tonight does affect who we are at work or play tomorrow, and for some, unfortunately, that understanding comes too late ... or never.... |