Where is it that the mettle of a man is tried? Is it tried in board rooms or academic halls? Is it tried on ball fields or wrestling mats or gym floors? Is it tried in race cars, racing boats, or racy women? No. The mettle of a man, his interior fortitude, courage, temperament, and strength, is tried in the crucible of the cross. In the contradiction of the day. In the moment of trial and failure and derision. The mettle of the man is tried when he has lost all and gained everything. In abnegation of himself and realization of the One who calls Him forth from his wretchedness. The mettle of the man is only found in union with the Cross. It is, after all, the Manly Way.
