John Eldredge – Man’s Quest to Discover Their “Wild At Heart”
John Eldredge is an author a counselor, and a teacher. He is also president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own hearts in God’s love, and learn to live in God’s Kingdom. John grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (which he hated), and spent his boyhood summers on his grandfather’s cattle ranch in eastern Oregon (which he loved). John met his wife, Stasi, in high school (in drama class). But their romance did not begin until they each came to faith in Christ, after high school. John earned his undergraduate degree in Theater at Cal Poly, and directed a theater company in Los Angeles for several years before moving to Colorado with Focus on the Family, where he taught at the Focus on the Family Institute.
John earned his master’s degree in Counseling from Colorado Christian University, under the direction of Larry Crabb and Dan Allender. He worked as a counselor in private practice before launching Wild at Heart in 2000. John and Stasi live in Colorado Springs with their three sons (Samuel, Blaine, and Luke), their golden retriever (Oban), and two horses (Whistle and Kokolo). While all of this is factually true, it somehow misses describing an actual person. He loves the outdoors passionately, and all beauty, Shakespeare, bow hunting, a good cigar, anything having to do with adventure, poetry, March Madness, working in the shop, fly fishing, classic rock, the Tetons, fish tacos, George MacDonald, green tea, buffalo steaks, dark chocolate, wild and open places, horses running, and too much more to name. He also uses the expression “far out” way too much.
john and I discussed the following in this episode:
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John says how he hasn’t fit well in religious institutions over the years
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How John grew up in an environment with an alcoholic father.
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The universal stories that John noticed over 25 years where guys had lost their heart
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The heartache of what it means to be a man and masculinity and the cultural crisis over lack of fathering. John notes that 50% of his audience are mothers of sons.
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Men are beginning to return to their deep roots, they want to be good dads and have fulfilling relationships with their wives.
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How the trickle down effect of this could be the most resilient generation in recent times.
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Parents are realising and swinging back from technology towards doing real things, the importance of allowing kids to make mistakes and learn from them
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The level of comfort and convenience that is distracting from kids building character.
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The catastrophic impact of Dads that are present but have no presence
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The situations that this can occur with addiction or spousal grief or a high needs child being present in the family.
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John says you have got to restore your soul and renew your soul right now and do the things that serve this purpose on a regular basis.
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John contends that the boy has to have the warrior resolve in him
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He says that this has been shamed out of men and how adventure is nourishment for men.
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Adventure shapes boys into men because Adventure requires things of us.
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How pop culture aimed at men always contains a beauty to rescue but so do women’s TV programs are around dating, marriage and romance.
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How the quest for men requires enormous courage for everyone involved in it.
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John sees that the cure for a lot of men’s depression anxiety and fear is in their heart and loss in their heart
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Do I have what it takes? Is the fundamental masculine question and this is where most Dads wound their sons.
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God is a really really good Dad that still wants to father you, know you and give you hope that you know what it takes.
