Comments on: Every Man Needs a Man Mentor

By: Don Soard

Don Soard — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:30:21 +0000

During the late 1930s, Andrew Lester lived with my parents in Oklahoma City. They became good friends with Lester and he was quite fond of them. When he prepared to leave their place, Andrew wanted to give them a gift. He gave them his sculpture of a spanish dancer made from clay. This gift from Andrew was treasured by my folks all the rest of their days. It is true what Tom Galloway said: “That’s the way Andrew was. If he liked you, he gave you something!”. Much later in my life, my mother passed away. Andrew noticed the obit in the newspaper and wrote my father a wonder letter some 45 years after Andrew last saw my mother. What a wonder man and true friend he truly was for my parents and especially, my father, Harold A. Soard.

By: Mac

Mac — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:55:25 +0000

Ok, please stop calling black people African-Americans. 1) White people are called white people, not Caucasians. Thus, it makes sense to call black people, black people. 2) They are not African. They are American. Unless they are off the boat/plane, they are Americans. I don’t call a man whose ancestors came from Ireland an Irish-American, or a man who has Scot blood a Scottish-American. We don’t call a man whose great, great-grandparents came from France, a French-American. We don’t call a man whose family from Germanyhas been in the US for as little as 70 years a German-American. 3) Most black people have been in the United States for over 210 years. We began importing slaves in the 1600s, I believe around 300,000 in that century. Then in the 1700s the number jumped to 5-7 million. Finally, in between 1800-1820 3-4 million slaves were brought to the seasoning camps in the Caribbean. From there, they were sent to Brasil, Argentina, etc. OR the Carolinas and Virginia. But think about it, after then we didn’t need anymore slaves imported. We already had generations of slaves in the US. We weren’t buying anymore slaves from Africa. No, rather we were buying them from our neighbors. So no more African-American nonsense. Please. Man up, and don’t try to be politically correct to the T. It’s unbecoming, makes you seem weak, and no black people that I know actually care whether or not you call them black.

By: Felix

Felix — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:41:13 +0000

I have one too.
I got to know my mentor when I was in a band recording in his studio.
The band was one of those typical ones that fell apart in the recording studio and after that, I was rather listless and had no idea what to do with my life (I was 20 and was well on my way to dropping out of school).

One day, I got to mess around with the recording equipment and did some tweaking. He noticed and said I’ve got some potential in his line of work as an audio recording engineer.

4 years on and free-lancing around a lot, I’ve now gotten myself a nice full-time position as an audio technician and sound manager in a church while studying in an audio engineering course part-time.

I owe my mentor much for this drive and passion I have for this line of work, my job.

By: matt

matt — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:37:26 +0000

Brett, i love the site, always good articles that are well written. I found one of my mentors, though unknown to me at the time, in Guthrie as well, it was my grandfather. While we didnt see eye to eye often, i was always up to mischief, he started me down the path im on now, being an officer in the US military, as well as teaching me the basic principles of hard work, discipline and the value of helping others.

By: Loren C. Klein

Loren C. Klein — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:20:06 +0000

Good call Sarah. I find as a teacher I have plenty of opportunities for mentoring my students and providing advice as they begin to deal with “grown up things” in middle school, even though God knows I am in so dire need of mentoring myself in those same area.

I find it rather strange that on one hand I have such a miserable time dealing with women (I was dumped just in time for Valentine’s Day), yet I’ve provided sagely advice for one girl that kept her head on straight when she could have easy ended up in a mess of a relationship, and another this past year used a chat we had to focus herself on the future she has and not look at the complete losers she goes to school with as potential relationship material.

Talk about not practicing what you preach… *sigh*

By: Sarah Joy Albrecht

Sarah Joy Albrecht — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:06:20 +0000

For those who do not have a mentor, please consider mentoring others. I think you’ll find that, in helping others, you will also help yourself. When you realize the gravity of someone observing what you’re doing – just like a teacher being observed while teaching – you realize your own mistakes and how you need to correct them. There is a vulnerability required when being a mentor.

Many times people choose not to mentor because they think that they are not good enough to mentor. “No one would listen to me.” What comes off as lack of self worth is oftentimes selfishness and pride. It is a refusal to be vulnerable.

I once wrote on my blog when talking about parenting (a form of mentoring!), “We need to love our children enough to overcome the embarrassment of our past to teach them how to have a better future.

We must not give children the notion that adults are perfect. We need to teach them that ’seeking forgiveness’ does not have age limits.”

By: CA

CA — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:03:40 +0000

My biggest mentor in life is my father. He has and still does mentor me in all 4 of the categories this article posits. While most of my male friends have gone through (or are still going through) times in their lives where their relationship with their fathers were poor, I have always considered my father to be a good man who I can look up to.

Other notable man-mentors in my life include my father-in-law, who gave me another perspective altogether on life, relationships and many of the things that troubled me about my father, my brother-in-law, whose constant drive for intellectual improvement has frequently been an inspiration to me, and my college roommate, who, though he has given up his original goal of entering the priesthood, is a constant reminder to me to seek the Lord in all I do.

By: Mari OBrien

Mari OBrien — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:08:18 +0000

I also had the privilege of meeting Andrew Lester. He and my beloved Aunt Iliene “Eanie” Duncan from Purcell, OK were good friends. He also kindly shared his art with her. I only spent one afternoon with Andrew but have never forgotten him. He and my Aunt Eanie had such a joy about them.

By: Vedenya

Vedenya — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:01:33 +0000

I believe that if a boy grows up without a father, then in future there will be little masculinity

By: ManInTheMaking

ManInTheMaking — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:45:47 +0000

All I can say is I think Man Mentors are one of the most important needs in any young man’s life. Though I had a father, I was in desperate need of a man who I could look up to and talk to and have as a role model. Thankfully, this year, I have finally found one and I thank God for it.
Sadly I’m 21 and this is just starting, but better late than never. By far, it ’s better late than never.

By: Pavlinich

Pavlinich — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:23:21 +0000

Every man must be a mentor.

By: Lianka

Lianka — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:07:21 +0000

Вот бы еще по русски.

By: Igulya

Igulya — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:13:52 +0000

The heart of this ministry is to reach out to the fatherless boys in our churches. We challenge, encourage and equip men to help our boys grow into men of character and integrity, to help them become the men God made them to be. To make a difference!

By: Carl Muthman

Carl Muthman — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:59:04 +0000

I would say that a lot of my dad’s friends were my mentors. There were also some older men that I worked with and for. No one on a long term basis but some of them made a deep impact in a very short time. I sure miss those old guys.

By: Ninelka

Ninelka — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:32:12 +0000

It’s very usefull for me!!! cool