I was in sixth grade when I was introduced to the poem by my Reading teacher, Mr. Lewis. I didn't really get the meaning because Mr. Lewis' primary objective was for all of his students to merely copy it from the board without any erasure marks or even so much as a scratch-out on our papers.
"This will be a snap," I thought, "All I have to do is copy it." Those were my famous last thoughts as I finally completed one copy without any mistakes. It took me eight re-writes. In retrospect, that was one valuable lesson in perseverance. It was a few years later that I read and began to understand the poem's meanings.
Fathers play a special role in their sons' lives. Somehow over time, be it by modeling, leading, teaching or sometimes just outright demanding force, fathers help their son be a man. Rudyard Kipling sums up the description fairly well.
Sons frequently put their father on such a pedestal that they often are puzzled when their father's nose starts to bleed from the height of the pedestal they have placed him on. It hits sons hard to realize that their father is not the biggest, the best, the most or any other "est" suffix word you want to put in there, in the world.
I believe the poem leaves one thing out that all fathers should incorporate in their sons' tutelage. Humility. I'm not talking about the humility of winning or losing or of the humble nobility of privilege. Those notions are in the poem if you examine it closely. I am talking about the humility of not being God. Fathers should show their sons their willingness to be the first to bow before our Lord Jesus Christ.
My suggestion to all fathers is to start doing this as soon in your sons' lives as possible. You will be amazed at how everything else falls into place.
Here are two video renditions of the poem that both struck me viscerally with hope and dreams of what it means to be a man. (If you do not see the YouTube videos, click here IF-Rudyard Kipling-Six Elements and here IF-Anthony Clohesy-Pachelbel's Canon)
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