Short Stories

Manhood

by Stephen Wong
12/02/18
Not For Sale
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

What are the characteristics of true manhood?

Derrick stared at the essay question on the page over and over again. He had been at his desk now for more than an hour and still couldn’t think of what to write. Underneath the question on the page were endless rows of blank lines. He hadn’t even written one word. In two days, the essay would be due. He needed to have one thousand words written by then.

At first, Derrick had been keen to write about this essay topic. Mr. Compton had told the class to base their essay on the characteristics of a male figure that they look up to. Like most of his classmates, Derrick had decided to base his essay on Dad. At first, he had been excited to write about this topic. Derrick admired Dad and loved the opportunity to be able to tell others about what made him great.

Yet the more he thought about Dad, the more he struggled to identify what made him manly. Derrick thought about all the things that characterised Dad. He worked as a primary school teacher. He was a vegetarian. In his spare time, he enjoyed reading and listening to classical music. He read his Bible every morning and played the organ at church on Sundays. He also liked to watch gardening shows on tv. Yet none of these things seemed very manly to Derrick.

On the other hand, it seemed like everyone else in Derrick’s class who was going to write about their dads had something to write about. Terry was going to write about how manly his dad was for running marathons every year. Rachel was going to write about how her dad climbed Mount Everest last month. Sam was going to write about how his dad was known for running the best barbecues in the neighbourhood. Lisa was going to write about how her dad once won a chilli eating contest.

Yet Derrick couldn’t think of what to write about. What made Dad manly? Dad wasn’t particularly tall or strong. He wasn’t the boss of some big company. He didn’t drive a fancy car or big truck. He wasn’t even good at any sports. Derrick remembered the last time he saw his dad kick a soccer ball. He had ended up sending the ball through the window of the neighbour’s bedroom. It was like he had zero coordination skills. Derrick had always been the sporty one in the family. He came first in all of the sprints at the school athletics event every year. He also often represented the school at the athletics state school championships. In fact, Derrick was so good at running that his teachers often commented that there must have been an athletic champion somewhere in his family line from whom he inherited his sporty genes. Derrick was sure that this champion didn’t come from Dad’s side…

“Hey sport.”

Derrick snapped out of his thoughts. He turned around to see Dad standing at the doorway of his bedroom.

“You’ve been at that desk for a while. Why don’t you take a break? We could walk down to the local café and get some ice cream?”

“Ah… ok sure,” replied Derrick. Perhaps he could draw some inspiration from a nice chocolate sundae.

***

“What’s going on champ?” Dad asked as they were walking to the café. “You’ve barely said a word since we’ve left the house.”

“I dunno Dad. I guess I’m just worried about my essay. I just don’t know what to write about.”

“Well, maybe I can help with that. What’s the topic?”

“Well, we are supposed to write about the characteristics of true manhood, and we need to write it based on a male figure we look up to. So, I chose to write about you Dad.”

“Well that makes you me feel very honoured. What have you written so far?”

“Well that’s the thing Dad. I haven’t started yet because I couldn’t think of anything to write about. No offense Dad … but … you’re not exactly a very manly person.”

Derrick faced the ground. He didn’t want to see Dad’s disappointed look. To his surprise he heard a chuckle instead. He looked back up to see Dad with an amused grin on his face.

“Is that so?” he replied. “Well what do you think it means to be manly?”

“I don’t know Dad. I guess when I think about manhood I usually think about big, strong guys who play lots of sport, or who drink lots of beer and have barbecues every weekend. But you’ve barely played any sport in your life and you don’t like eating meat.”

“Well I might not be very manly in those types of ways, but there is someone who I follow each day who is the manliest person that I know; Jesus. He may not have been very manly in the eyes of the world, but he displayed true manhood in the way that he loved God and taught people about him. He displayed true manhood in the way that he served others and always put them before himself, even the people that nobody else considered important. He displayed true manhood in the way that he gave his life for us by dying on the cross for our sins, so that we can been forgiven and experience a restored relationship with God. Jesus is my greatest hero, and I hope that by following his example of manhood with God’s help each day, I can encourage you to follow him too.”       

“Well Dad … I guess I’d never thought about manhood that way before.”

“Those are the words your grandpa told me. I asked for his advice once when I needed to give a speech to my grade six class about what it means to become a man. Oh, and by the way, the part about me not playing sports isn’t entirely true…”

“Why’s that?” Derrick asked.

“Well I did once hold my high school record for the one hundred metre sprint.”

*** 

Derrick sat down at his desk again. He was feeling more energetic now after the sundae and the nice walk home. He thought about his conversation with Dad. It turned out Dad had been the right person to write about for his essay after all. Perhaps he wasn’t manly for liking classical music or being a vegetarian, but he was manly in how he loved Jesus and trusted and followed him every day. He was manly in how he put Jesus’ teachings into practice every day through serving others and putting other people before himself, and through always making time for his family and loving and caring for them. In fact, Dad was manlier than all of the other dads of Derrick’s classmates, and if Jesus could teach Dad about how to be a man, then Derrick decided that he wanted to follow this Jesus too. Derrick picked up his pen. He now had more than enough to write about.