Master Devin Brightens the Great Hall

The Great Hall grew quiet as Master Devin rose to perform. I stood near the fire, leaning against the cold stone mantel. Our company of troubadours sat before him, along with children invited from the farms surrounding the castle. The light of many lamps flickered across the stage, bathing Devin in a warm yellow glow.

The children's voices fell silent as he stepped from behind the heavy wool curtains on the left of the stage. His unsteady walk and uncertain gaze revealed a hesitant resolve. His small thin frame reached center stage. He stopped and turned toward his anxious audience. His bony hands clutched his instrument, his legs quivered noticeably. I feared a sudden loss of consciousness and prepared to intercede if necessary. Such thoughts were unnecassary, for once he remembered to breath, oxygen was restored and color returned to his cheeks. His quivering slowed, he made eye contact with his fellow troubadours, and the children scattered on the stone floor before him gave their attention.

I motioned for the two younger members of our troupe selected to accompany him to step forward. Master Devin calmed with their appearance. He was no longer alone. I stood pleased that he was prepared and willing to accept his first on call performance. With the hall full of children and a missing troubadour, I had no choice but to call him out of the audience and tell him that, ready or not, he would be performing.

Devin cleared his throat, positioned his instrument, glanced at his chorus, nodded and then - with one foot braced forward and one back, broke into story and song. The tale was told with precision. One could tell he was classically trained by our best. I watched the faces of the village children - each mesmerized by his tale of heroism in the face of unimaginable evil. At times they screamed and at times the excitement of his words caused them to squirm in anticipation of what was to come.

The sand in the hour glass on the Noble's oak table was near its end all too soon. At one and one half hours Devin and his chorus finished to thunderous applause. Afterwords, I congratulated our new Troubadour with hand outstretched. Devin's firm grasp confirmed a confidence I was sure wasn't there before.
"You did well Master Devin," I spoke so those closest could hear.
"Well enough to collect coin?" he responded. I smiled - realizing he'd waited long for his opportunity to stand alone on our stage.
"Not quite," I answered. "There is the matter of finalizing your training on the largest stage. Spend time there, show us your talents with larger groups - and coin will be your reward."

He seemed pleased and turned to accept the continued warm acceptance from his new brothers and sisters in the troupe.

Welcome Devin.

Mr. Williamson

Boys and American Education

Hello Troops,
Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D. is director and senior fellow at The Beverly LaHaye Institute. In a recent article she discusses a growing problem with boys and schools. I've seen this trend myself and am concerned that we, as educators, should find ways to reengage boys in learning.

Your Thoughts?

Mr. Williamson

What's Happening to Boys in our Schools?

More and more men are lagging behind women in educational attainment and thus lack the credentials to compete in the marketplace. Take college graduation: 34 percent of women (ages 25 to 34) have earned degrees compared to 27 percent of men. This fact alone leads to fewer men in graduate schools and in the high prestige and high salaried jobs. Even in areas typically dominated by men -- like law, medicine, and business -- women are excelling and their numbers and proportion are growing in comparison to men. Clearly, in our eagerness to level the playing field for women we have seriously destabilized the balance between the sexes to the detriment of males. Kathleen Parker was right when she challenged our culture to "save the males." As Christina Hoff Sommers said in her book, The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming our Young Men, the fact that "women are significantly more literate, significantly more educated than their male counterparts" is likely to create a "lot of social problems;" the lack of enough well-educated men does not "bode well" for anyone, particularly the growing numbers of sophisticated women.

Increasingly, men are finding their identity in their hobbies (fishing, hunting, racing, sports, etc.) instead of their careers (where they are falling behind women in achievement and status) or their roles as family providers and protectors -- both categories scorned by feminists. Previous generations of men had clearly identifiable roles and opportunities to show their physical prowess and courage -- through providing for and protecting their wives and families both at home and against the nation's enemies at war. Men knew that they were needed; today, young women are told that they "don't need a man" for anything. Males used to become "men" when they "took a wife" and assumed adult responsibilities. Now, instead of serious, dignified, and decisive male role models in the movies -- like Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Gary Cooper -- males today are more likely, as Kay Hymowitz observes, to identify with and to emulate "overgrown boy actors like Steve Carell, Luke and Owen Wilson, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Seth Rogen."

As a society, we must revive those values and ideals that provided strong incentives for young men to pass the tests of adulthood. The first steps of a solution are quite simple: we must begin by (1) scorning and ostracizing those men, no matter how rich and famous, who fail to take up the responsibilities of being a husband when they father a child and (2) demanding that our public school teachers unlearn those pernicious myths absorbed in college and graduate school and start re-creating an environment, starting in kindergarten, that respects masculine traits and behaviors: that is to say, stop demanding that little boys act like little girls and punishing or medicating them for acting like little boys. Less than this is, on the one hand, to continue to accept what is unacceptable, and on the other to continue to discriminate against our sons and brothers.

We will not succeed in making a new start until we stamp out the myth that young women can do just as well without a man. Unless we change that thinking, our society will be the poorer. As long as the male half of the population is disparaged, denigrated, and infantilized, they will lack the motivation to "man up" and become responsible and accomplished men.

Something for Thursday

Your nickel's worth of wisdom for today.

Life is more about the journey than the destination.