Book Review: A Guy’s Guide to the Good Life: Virtues for Men
Robert Lockwood’s A Guy’s Guide to the Good Life: Virtues for Men had me from the first page when I spotted these lines from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
While halfway through the journey of our life
I found myself lost in a darkened forest,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.How I entered there I cannot truly say,
I had become so sleepy at the moment
when I first strayed, leaving the path of truth.
Dante has been a familiar spiritual companion for me and a worthy guide for any man seeking to live a life of Christian virtue.
Lockwood suggests that virtue lies at the heart of the Christian life and challenges his readers to give them a closer look.
Many of us have spent years trying to convince ourselves that life based on the virtues is too hard, involving more change than any one person can accomplish. But with grace, the sacraments and the “repetition of good acts,” this great life–a life for which we all strive–is not only attainable but easier than the opposite.
A Guy’s Guide to the Good Life: Virtues for Men is broken into two parts, the first focusing on the Cardinal Virtues, the second on the Theological Virtues. Lockwood does an excellent job of illustrating how men can apply these virtues to their daily lives. Through examples from his own life that most often take the form of family stories, he shares the kind of practical wisdom that guys are looking for.
Lockwood begins with an exploration of the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice. His book is refreshing in that he uses down to earth language to speak about subjects too often left to the realm of “put you to sleep” homilies. He defines Prudence in these terms:
Prudence is actually a very straightforward guy’s virtue. It means living in the truth, not as a self-righteous jerk but as a guy who wants to look at himself in the mirror every morning without fearing he’s sold out.
If that is what Prudence means, and I would tend to agree that it does, what guy wouldn’t want to pursue making it a part of his life?
In the second part of his book, Lockwood centers on the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. These virtues have their origin entirely in God’s grace and as such can be a bit more slippery for many of us. Once again Lockwood is able to bring these virtues closer to everyday life through his own experiences. He reminds his readers,
We never know the battles people are waging. But we know that everyone has to have hope. That’s why we need to keep praying for each other. Especially the strangers.
Lockwood ends his book as Dante does his Divine Comedy, by bringing the reader back to where he started, but hopefully with a deeper understanding of these seven important virtues and with a desire to live them out more fully each day.
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on A Guy’s Guide to the Good Life: Virtues for Men
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