Remembering My Father-in Law: A Real Renaissance Man

This is the eightieth birthday of my father-in-law. Jack Sharp who died several years ago but not before making an indelible mark on my life and the lives of my sons (his grandsons). I remember Jack as a brother in the faith journey that we are all on. He and I were both interested in the Men's Movement in the eighties and early nineties as men searched for a new way to understand and celebrate masculinity. As the father of three sons (and now three grandsons) I am always exploring ways to discover how to live fully and faithfully as a man and how to help my sons in their journey as well. How does one encourage young men to not only embrace sports but also intellectual pursuits, music, spiritual fulfillment, social outreach, relational integrity, personal health and emotional wellbeing?
Jack and I attended several men's conferences together and read everything we could from Jungian books like Robert Bly's "Iron John" and Sam Keene's "Fire in the Belly" to the more Christian focused books, Patrick Arnold's "Wildmen, Warriors and Kings" and Moore and Gillette's "King, Warrior, Magician and Lover". These books challenged us to see and claim the depth and breadth of what it is be fully a man in this world and to embrace the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual dimensions of manhood. With Jack, I have tried then to live out this model for and with my sons and grandsons. I would say that Jack as a Husband to Almira, Father, Grandfather, Air Force Colonel, Counselor, Athlete, Recorder player, Writer and Faithful Seeker was truly a Renaissance Man. My hope is that my sons, grandsons and I can walk in these footsteps as we remember Jack. As we were growing up (yes, dad's actually grow up with their children) we enjoyed Knights and Kings and Jesters and Scribes. We even developed a men's club where we would dream and plan trips. But my real hope was that these games would allow us to embrace the many dimensions of being a man in the world and not just the singular dimension portrayed in the media. As our sons grew to be men we (so far) have a medieval family with one son a warrior (Air Force), one a churchman (Youth Minister) and one a business person (music industry). But within each one there is a wonderful spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual depth and diversity that they share with their grandfather.
Finally, I want to thank Jack for blessing my marriage to his daughter, Joan, twenty-five years ago. She has been and is my soul mate and she encourages me everyday to be the man God created and called me to be. I see so much of my father-in-law in his Renaissance daughter Joan. During my sabbatical with Joan this summer, I have tried to nurture the physical (golf, tennis and hiking), emotional (spending time with family at the graduation of Josh and Miles and the birth of Evan), intellectual (reading, writing and learning at the pastor's school) and spiritual side (devotions and worship and retreats). Joan has been both partner and coach through this time. I miss Jack on the eightieth anniversary of his birth but I am thankful for the journeys we took together and the legacy we share in Stuart, Adam, Joshua, Ashton, Ethan and Evan.