By Eddie Lowen
Man Alive: Transforming Your Seven Primal Needs into a Powerful Spiritual Life
Patrick Morley
Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2012
Several people who narrowly escaped the collapse of the World Trade Center towers 11 years ago credited their safety to “a man wearing a red bandana.” The man approached several bewildered people and said, “Follow me. I can help you get out.” He carried one woman on his back down 17 flights of stairs.
When the rubble was cleared from where Tower One once stood, the body of a young man wearing a red bandana was found among the bodies of numerous firefighters. This man had no formal responsibility as a first responder; he could have run to safety any time during the 56-
minute period between the attack and the tower”s collapse. But the stuff of which he was made wouldn”t let him. In those moments before his death, he genuinely lived.
The young man was later identified as Welles Crowther. His regal and unusual name was befitting his unusual courage and composure. He worked on the 110th floor of Tower One as an equities trader, but confided to his father that he wasn”t satisfied crunching numbers. He was looking for a way to enter public service. He found it.
That”s the story Patrick Morley shares in the opening pages of his aptly named book, Man Alive. Crowther”s story is the perfect introduction to the hunger Morley identifies and addresses. This is an emotional book, the kind many men will be slow to pick up, and then slow to put down. It”s the kind of book that may threaten some men, if given by their wives. But it”s the kind that will pass through the defenses quickly when recommended or given by another man.
It”s no surprise Morley would write capably about authentic manhood, as he”s among the premier gurus of men”s ministry. But this latest effort offers fresh language and a compelling format: Morley”s seven “primal needs” are the things that rattle around the hearts of men, shouting for attention, but going unexplored in so many.
While the title creates interest, the cumbersome subtitle attempts to add too much: Transforming Your Primal Needs into a Powerful Spiritual Life. However, it is an accurate description of what Morley helps men desire and accomplish. He both specifies and legitimizes the hungers that accompany manhood and drive us toward God. Even more, Morley doesn”t just use Scripture, he uses it in a way that helps readers enjoy God”s wisdom.
Primal is the word I like best from the subtitle””it is a word that normally carries a negative, caveman connotation, but which Morley defines as “raw, restless energy,” a kind that is uniquely male.
While egalitarians may disagree with some of Morley”s underlying philosophy, there is no question that Man Alive can capture the attention of men. This book can serve equally well as a men”s group discussion starter or a personal read.
Eddie Lowen is lead minister at West Side Christian Church in Springfield, Illinois, and serves on Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee.
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