Sam Jolman's Blog, page 3
January 23, 2025
Zoom Conversation: Joseph, the Broken Hearted
Well friends,
In speaking about Jesus and the scandal of God’s love, Dallas Willard said, “The major problem with the invitation now is precisely overfamiliarity. Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity—unsuspected unfamiliarity, and then contempt. People think they have heard the invitation. They think they have accepted it—or rejected it. But they have not.”…
January 16, 2025
Joseph, the Broken Hearted
“Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding.” Matthew 1:19 (CEV)
“We had a kind of love, I thought that it would never end
Oh my lover, oh my other, oh my friend
We talked around in circles, and we talked around and then
I loved you to the moon and back again
You gave everything this golden glow
Now turn off all the stars 'cause this I know
That it hurts like so
To let somebody go” Coldplay (Listen here)
Christmas is far go...
December 16, 2024
Zoom Conversation: The Killer and the Lover
Friends,
This conversation and accompanying post were late to get to you this month and for that I am sorry.
I actually wrote a whole different post in November but it stirred up something in my own trauma story. I tried to push through but realized that goes against the kindness I value. So I set aside that post for now to engage my own healing first. …
December 15, 2024
The Killer and the Lover
“The Lover keeps the other masculine energies humane, loving, and related to each other and to the real life situation of human beings in a difficult world.” Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Jesus (Matthew 24:12)
During Thanksgiving week, a man took a Greyhound bus to New York city. After spending a number of days bumming around, he woke up Wednesday at 5:30 am in his hostel room. He dressed, walked several blocks to a Starbu...
November 11, 2024
Zoom Conversation: No, This is Not Permission to Lust
Well, friends, let’s gather again and talk.
Have you ever considered that your face (eyes, gaze, countenance, attention) could be a means of blessing and generosity to those around you? Before you ever say a word, your hold power in your face simply in how you animate it. You can give a generous gaze or take with consuming eyes. That to me is where the …
November 5, 2024
No, This is Not Permission To Lust
As an author, I had no idea I could ever love a 2 star review. But then I got one that means the world to me; no sarcasm (or as the kids say, no cap). It’s the kind of review I think every author dreams of getting because it comes from a reader who actually took my book seriously and engaged the content in intellectual and personal ways, without open insult. Yes, as evidenced by the 2 stars, she took issue with what I said, especially the part about men experiencing awe at the sight of another ...
October 3, 2024
Zoom Conversation: How Men Objectify Themselves
Hey good people,
A fellow writer (Lore, I believe) said that somehow every time she writes a book, around the time of its release, life challenges her to live the message of the book. That was certainly my experience. In writing a book on healthy male sexuality, which is built on good embodiment, I had to address my own mistreatment of my body. Humble pi…
September 30, 2024
How Men Objectify Themselves
Right before she stabbed me in the back with another needle, Jane asked, “Weren’t you writing a book?”
“Yes,” I said, between gasps of pain on the exam table, “Good memory.”
Jane, my physical therapist, was literally poking and prodding (via dry needling) my seized up back muscles, trying to coax them to relax.
“The book comes out next week. Which is why I’m here. Somehow in writing a book I managed to ruin my back.”
It was true. No big dramatic trampoline flip or epic mountain bike jump preceded it...
August 27, 2024
Zoom Conversation: What Makes a Man Truly Virile?
Hey good people, it’s time to gather for another conversation. I’m sorry this conversation is so delayed. I didn’t plan to take a month off in July. Running Camp Jolman for my three boys through the last month of summer overtook my time in a way I did not see coming. Maybe it’s also we adopted a puppy in there too. But school is back in session and I’m …
July 25, 2024
What Makes a Man Truly Virile?
My friend Ben is another three-boy dad, just like me. A few years back, he took his family to Yellowstone as one does here in the West. They got the full experience, with old faithful and animal sightings galore. At one point as if on cue, a herd of buffalo grazed across the road in front of them—hundreds if not thousands in number with nothing to do but roam the open range. One male seemed especially committed to his prod, not moving his asphalt ground. All the cars passed timidly, lest they be...
