Here’s to the men who put up with you
It is no secret that many activists of our time are women. I look around at organizing meetings and women vastly outnumbered the men.
I have the most unkind of words for men who do not stand firm. I do not mean that they have to be politically active, but I expect then to stand up in their own lives to the tyranny.
The men who do not, are quick to garner unkind words from me.
But let me also point to another side of things. How Covid has strained the family and separated friends. In many ways, at a time like this, it is good to be separated from those lacking courage. They will often drag you down. But there is an exception. It is with a spouse.
Marriage is forever.
I want to speak to the unsung heroes of our movement.
It may be your wife, but it is more often a husband.
Their wives may be taking time away from work while the husbands work. That husband too plays an important role.
Their wives may be firm believers of the Almighty, while the husband is very private about his faith, perhaps not even having any. That husband too plays an important role.
Their wives can not get enough protests, meetings, movies, and debates about the latest nonsense from government set on destroying our way of life, while the husband would just like a quiet night at home. That husband too plays an important role.
Dear front line warrior, fighting the battle on the fringes of society, protecting the heartland of society while you live life at the spear tip — dear warrior, you are the true hero.
You are the person this time will remember.
And who knows, you may also be the person who future generations remember.
And let’s also take a moment to show appreciation for the unsung hero.
Please show him lots of grace and love. You cannot be an easy person for a non-believer to be married to. You cannot be an easy person for the apolitical to be married to. You cannot be an easy person for the half-hearted liberal to be married to. You are passionate, resolute, and there are moments when you refuse to hold back.
I don't know that man, and I'm sure he's no slice of heaven all the time, but in this era of convenience and comfort, him standing by his woman to the extent that he has had to, (in order for you to still even be talking to each other), shows a whole lot of positive about his character to me.
Our era does not want that relationship to prosper.
I wrote Face Masks In One Lesson to help you live normally while never again wearing a mask. It is the “how” of never wearing a mask again. I wrote Face Masks Hurt Kids so people have easy, accessible, always-at-the-ready, the “why” of never wearing a mask again.
If your loved one does not understand that detail, they may be useful books to own. And they may be useful books delivered to them with a cuddle, with a kiss, with a sweetness that only you can offer, and with a question in your mind, “What I can be doing for this wonderful man today to express how much I really do love him?”
The last two years, and in fact all of modernity, have lined up for this pivotal moment to divide houses against themselves and to leave everyone proverbially unsheltered.
Don’t play into that.
I am not saying to be nice to everyone. Everyone doesn’t deserve that from you. But I am saying to be extra nice, extra generous, extra filled with grace to the people in your life who matter.
They put up with you.
And you, dear reader, are probably a lot like me. You are probably a lot like a lot of readers who I have met: You are probably not always the easiest person to get along with.
Though maybe I’m wrong.
And even if I am, perhaps this can still be an extra day to celebrate a special person in your life, whether spouse or not. Perhaps today can be a day to show gratitude to someone special who puts up with you. Perhaps today can even be a day mostly absent of politics. Maybe it can be just the two of you doing something nice together, maybe even just celebrating him for no particular reason at all.
Or her.
Or several people who could use a little more love — really who wouldn’t be happy to receive a little extra from a person dear to them. But especially your spouse. And why not make today that day?
Doing so will likely repay you many times over, but it is also just a good thing to do.
Help move that loved one along, away from the lies of the past. Get him good books like Face Masks Hurt Kids and Face Masks In One Lesson -- the kind of books that matter. Help him see the nonsense and lies of the era. But also, spend a good amount of time loving on him.
We are not promised tomorrow. We are promised this moment. And in the life well lived, part of that means being as loving as you can be in the lives of the people who matter most to you.
Allan Stevo