Our Focus on Tuesdays: “Wise Men Still Follow Him”
A few years ago, I had the privilege of hearing Lieutenant
General Josiah Bunting III speak about the formation of leaders as young
men. In his address, “The First and Greatest Generation and Its
Successor,”* he identified a fascinating connection between the Founding
Fathers and the leaders of the American armed forces in World War II.
Both groups of extraordinary men, in their earliest years, were steeped in the
knowledge of the great men of ancient Greece and Rome. General Bunting
did not consider this a coincidence. Rather, he contrasted this sort of
formation with the influences on today’s boys and young men: decadent athletes,
rock stars, and other “celebrities” (once caustically defined by Malcolm
Muggeridge as people who are famous for being famous).
Each Tuesday I will present a short entry by some wise
man - in our Church, in our history - who has something to teach
us. That’s the easy part. More challenging is the task put forward
by General Bunting: The resolve to bring our sons, and all young Catholics,
into a deep appreciation for men of character and honor. The next
generation will not be a great generation if they are left to their own devices
in choosing their own role models.
I had the good fortune in second grade of having a volunteer
school librarian introduce me to the “Discovery” series of biographies for
children. Thomas Jefferson, Luther Burbank, Booker T. Washington,
Theodore Roosevelt -- these were the objects of my curiosity as a
seven-year old, not some grinches or cats-in-hats. They were, and remain,
heroes to me. Not perfect men, but great men. Have our sons ever
heard of them? Our task is to tell them.
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