Welcome to MLA's first newsletter! We hope that you will find it inspiring and meaningful and something that you will look forward to reading. For years we have dreamed of this time when we could publish articles, pictures, poems, and stories about the passages and initiations into manhood, accompanied by topics like men’s health, sexuality, raising children, marriage, divorce, father’s rights, teenage suicide, young fathers, the work life, giving back and more.

With this publication, The Men’s Leadership Alliance is taking a step forward in expanding its mission to be a “Resource for the Male Soul.” We want to deepen the inquiry and the dialogue about what it means to live a soulful life in today’s world. We want to hear about the fears and joys of being a man in 2007.

• Where do men go to learn from other men?
• Who are the mentors of today?
• Where do we go to find help or to help out with the struggles that men are experiencing?
• Can there be a different kind of hotline for men to call to understand their dark and light sides of male expression?
• Where do men go to care for their soul?

We hope that we can be a gateway for men to explore more about the male soul.

In the twenty years that I have been doing “soulwork” I have listened to hundreds, if not thousands of stories about men’s lives. These stories have been shape shifters of my heart and soul. They are windows into my past and future. Their wisdom has given me strength and ability to learn from these gifts and wounds and understand how to utilize my inherent gifts in helping me traverse the path of manhood.

I have shifted my experience over the years from thinking that I had to do it alone to knowing that I can’t do it alone. Life is an interactive experience, and now more than ever there is a growing need to work together to create a sustainable world that can be left to our children and grandchildren - a world where men can communicate from their hearts and souls. No, not wimpy men, but men of courage who have an understanding and conviction for the soulful path. A truthful way to express that doesn’t do damage, but brings insight and opportunity for growth and exploration without having to be “better than” or more “important than” someone else. Where do men go to learn how to challenge themselves and explore new ways to create healthier relationships that give a new meaning to our purpose for being alive?

When my son went off to college, when my father died, when my wife and I fight, when I feel like a failure, when I feel like no one likes me or wants me, when I am confused about the chaos in the world and how to protect my young kids - I turn to the stories and teachings of the men and remember that I am not alone. And, for a brief moment I can sometimes let go of the burdens and open to Spirit (God to some of you) to teach me the lessons I need to know. I have come to know that the soulful path can be the most joyous path to take. It’s a curvy path, not direct from point A to point B. No, it has side streets to venture down and hairy pin turns up and down the mountainside. However, in the end it’s the quality of the journey that matters, right? You know its right and so do I.

As you read this newsletter I trust that you too will hear the sound of your own voice through the other men speaking. Hopefully you will find a resonant voice; complete with harmonies and dissonant sounds that make up this complex species we call MAN.

I hope you can open yourself to feel into each story, picture, poem, etc. Does it remind you of a story in your life that you would be willing to share? Perhaps it’s a poem or a photograph that captures a specific quality that you’d like to pass on. Please feel free to share with us what burns in your heart. Let it find expression. Let it find a place to be heard. We await your contribution. If not, your reading this alone is good enough.

A special thanks in closing to Lee Hansen, for his steadfastness and determination to see that this journal find its place in the world. Thanks Lee for this awesome beginning. I look forward to working with you and developing this with you and the others who step forth.

I invite you to take a look inside this journal and our website to see the many offerings available for men, both young and old.

We welcome your feedback. We have only just begun and hearing from you will allow us to continue to bring to you that which is being desired from its readers.