Last week, I picked up my boys, Patrick and Eliot, from school early. We had an invitation to a dove hunt, and they were both straining at the bit. We picked up my brother along the way and off we went to the far corner of Fayette County. Patrick is at the age where he carries a shotgun but has never really been bird hunting. Eliot, being two years younger, just carries a plastic M-16 and plays the part of the retriever. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, they are just glad to get out of school and happy to be with their dad and uncle.

We arrived at the field and deployed into various spots. Patrick had shot a high-powered rifle but never a shotgun, and was somewhat afraid of the recoil—the kick of the gun. So, first things first in this endeavor. The reason I love hunting has is more than just being outside and wandering around in search of wild game. Of course I love the chase and the adrenaline rush when you have stalked and bagged your quarry.  But more than that, hunting is a modality for boys to enter a grownup world. So here is Patrick: how will he ever be free with a weapon in his hand that he can potentially kill himself or me with? First, he has to face his fear of the recoil if he is ever going to enjoy a shotgun.  Whether it is bird hunting or shooting skeet, he has to eventually trust me that it will not knock his arm off. He is not stupid; he sees the size of the gun and the size of the shell and has heard the sound of it going off. I finally assure him he will live if he shoots it and so he does. It kicks more than he thought, but he is good.

The birds were not flying well, and so after sitting quite for a while, we moved to another place and immediately found some success, although I couldn’t get Patrick in the flow of thinks—he shot a couple of times when the birds were out of range, but never had a quality shot. Meanwhile, Eliot was playing retriever to my brother John, Don Zerillo and me. And then Patrick shot.  After the bird fell, he looked at me, then at John. We went to pick up his first bird and after we smeared blood on his face and he received inordinate affirmation from a company of men, we resumed the hunt. I have since taken him out and now he is pulling away from me, finding his own spots and slinging enough lead to land me in the poor house.

One day he will not need me to mentor him along, and years from now he will repeat this dance with his own boys, and hopefully I will belong with his sons tagging along. I do not say this to glorify hunting—many people may even think it barbaric—but I will say that it offers fathers a way that uniquely helps develop boys become men. Not the part about bagging the game, but the part about a boy starting at the bottom, being totally incompetent, and having to be mentored into something over a long period of time until they are proven and are then trustworthy to go off on their own without them

being a danger to themselves or others. I think about this because I have been thinking a lot about gender issues—our unique maleness and femaleness, marriage, and how we nurture the differences in the female soul and male soul in a healthy way that is true to the models we see in the Bible. Two days after I took my boys off hunting, I picked Anne Rachael and three of her friends up from school and as I let them out at the story to pick up food for the sleepover, I noticed the girls walked off arm in arm, much the way a man would escort a lady to a formal. Off they went, skipping and talking, happy as clams. I have never seen any of my boys, when there were a bunch of them over, grab a guy’s arm and skip off with them. If he did, he would most likely have gotten smacked. Also when I have a house full of girls, it is quiet, dignified, it smells wonderful and I never see them. When it is a bunch of boys, it is loud, messy, things get broken and it smells like a locker room. Why?  The male soul and the female soul are as different as the male body and the female body.

In Genesis we see male and female made in God’s image. The picture we get is one of design inadequacies.  Adam cannot fully reflect all the glory of God; his maleness captures much of the divine glory, but he is inadequate in and of himself. Eve can’t fully reflect back to God all of his glory either. God made his image under two modes to fully reflect his glory back to him. I don’t need gender studies to tell me that men and women think, feel and approach the world differently, but those studies do help confirm the wisdom of the Bible in this knotty area. It is one of the great mysteries not to be solved, but to be entered into more deeply. I confess, it is looking at the Scripture that confirms to me that we had better think about these differences as parents. What does it mean to nurture our daughters into ladies that are not doormats and overly dependent, and what does it mean to nurture our boys into men who are independent and strong but will not tyrannized women? As parents, we had better think about that, because I don’t really think we have before. Statistically, there are no men to speak of in the Church from ages 21-29. Why? I don’t know the numbers on young women, but I am mortified that the church has become so irrelevant that our young men have left it to go to college and not come back. It is time we give serious thought to these issues for the sake of our children, and who our children will marry, in the next few years.

Clothes Closet

The clothes closet is now accepting winter clothes, coats, blankets, as well as winter children’s and baby clothing.  Since storage is limited, please keep your spring and summer donations at your home for next year. So, as you go through your fall and winter clothing, please bring your clean, folded clothing to us.  Thanks!

Sr. High “Make Your Own Movie” Night

Saturday, September 16th - 3:00pm-8:00pm

at St. Patrick Presbyterian Church

We will meet at the church and split up into teams.  Each team will be in charge of coming up with its own story line and act out the scenes. So bring your friends, because they will definitely want to come and be part of the madness!!  Call Jon with any questions (849-8133). See all of you there!

Feeding of the Flock

After Folk Service on September 17th  

Sunday, after the second service, we will have our annual Feeding the Flock feast! The elders will be serving up hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and cookies following 11 o'clock worship. You don't need to bring anything! and there is no cost!! See you then!

Ladies Night Out

September 17th at 6 pm

When?  Sunday Sept. 18th 6:00 pm

Where? La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant

Bring a friend and get to know one another better.  Feed the Flock is at the church on this day after services.  That means we will not have to cook a meal all day! Please, prayerfully consider being the Ladies Night Out coordinator. We need one. Call Penny Cunningham if you have any questions.  461-3493 (cell).

Ladies’ Bible Study

Tuesdays 9:30 to 11 at the Church

It’s no too late to join!  We’ve met just one time. We will be studying Proverbs as we gain skill in all areas of life.  Proverbs will give us direction and guidance that is practical, concrete, reasonable, wholesome, understandable and fruitful. The cost is $10, which includes the book. For questions, call Penny Cunningham 853-6776 or Honey Sammons 853-9101.

Worship with us every Sunday at

463 Hwy. 72 in Collierville

Visit our website for details

                         www.stpatrickpres.comStPatrickPres.com

or call 861-3803

         16 – Sr. Youth Make Your Own Movie 3 pm

         17 – 9 am Traditional Worship

                10:20 Sunday school (all ages)

                11:00 Folk-life Worship

                12:15 Feeding of the Flock

                 6 pm Ladies Night Out

                 6:15 Sr. High Meeting

                 Community Groups 

         18 – Monday Community Groups 6:30

         19 – Ladies Bible Study 9:30-11 Rm. 7

                Community Group Leaders Mtg. 5:30

                Missions Meeting Moved to 26th

         20 – WNM – 6:15 – 7:45

                Sr. High Small Groups

                 Choir – 8

          21 – Women’s Ministry Mtg. 10 am

          24 – 9 am Traditional Worship

                 10:20 Sunday School (all ages)

                 11:00 Folk-life Worship

                  6 pm Sr. Youth Meeting

                  Community Groups

          25 – Monday Night Community Groups 6:30

          26 – Ladies Bible Study 9:30- 11 am

                 Missions Meeting 6:30

                 Session Meeting

          27 - WNM – 6:15 – 7:45

                  Sr. High Small Groups

                  Choir – 8