Men In Profile | July 2011

Gerry Moore

Founding member and former convener of MALEs Ireland

 

DB: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

GM: I was born in 1940 in Dublin, Ireland and have remained a Dub all my life. I went to the Christian Brothers School Synge Street for both junior and senior schools. I left there in 1958 and entered the Passionists congregation as a novice in September of that year and left the following June, a full nine months. In later life I realised that this was my real initiation into manhood. I went to university and became an electrical engineer and got a job with the local utility company as a high voltage design engineer. I married and had three children. The two boys emigrated to the States and the girl stayed in Dublin. I now have nine grandchildren of which two are boys. My grandchildren have taught me more about spirituality than all the courses I have attended.

I had an conversion experience when I was 45 and as a consequence joined the charismatic movement, where I became a leader and found out I had a charism of teaching. I then drifted until I retired early at 57 and went to Milltown Park Institute to do a master's in spirituality. I qualified in 2000 and then trained as a spiritual director with the Jesuits. This is my first love.

DB: How did you first come to be involved in Men As Learners and Elders (MALEs)?

GM: I went on a men's retreat By Fr. Richard Rohr in Dublin around 1994. At the retreat, he briefly described the initiation rites for men that he and his team were developing in New Mexico. I remember saying to myself afterwards, "At last, I understand my journey and the various milestones along the way!"

In 1997 I took early retirement and did a master's in spirituality at the Milltown Institute, Dublin. I did my thesis on masculine spirituality. Afterwards I was invited to lecture on this topic and encouraged to do a doctorate on masculine spirituality.  I decided that if I was to do this I had better experience the Men's Rites of Passage (MROP) for myself. So I set off for Ghost Ranch in 2002. Afterwards, on my way home in the plane, I became very aware that I had to bring this to my own Irish men, so I set up MALEs Ireland in 2003.

DB: Can you recall an especially powerful moment in your experience with MALEs that was important to your journey?

GM: I never had a sudden, deep awakening moment, but instead a whole series of quiet deepenings of what I already had known. The two most important moments were at my MROP. One was after the grief ritual, where I got a deep understanding of the wonderful dignity and giftedness of the male gender. The second one was the gift of being able to accept myself as I truly am--a good/bad person and that I was just another little creature of the cosmos.

DB: What literature or other sources of wisdom have been especially helpful to your journey?

GM: I was inspired by all of Richard's books and tapes/CDs. In addition, I found the following authors particularly helpful:

• The books of Anthony de Mello
• Robert Johnson (Transformation: Understanding the Three Levels of Masculine Consciousness and He: Understanding Masculine Psychology)
• James Hollis (The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife, Under Saturn's Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men, and On this Journey We Call Life)
• Moore and Gillette (King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine)
• Wilkie Au (The Enduring Heart: Spirituality for the Long Haul)
• Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life)
• Gerald May (Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology, and Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction)

DB: What do you think makes the Men As Learners and Elders program unique in what it offers to men?

GM: The way it presents the essential truths to men. The men learn through experiencing the truths for themselves and through the medium of storytelling,
hence it is a very grounded spirituality that marries a wholesome spirituality with good psychology.

DB: What aspects of spiritual community-building for men would you consider distinctive or particularly noteworthy in Ireland?

GM: Our community of men is built around a monthly meeting which consists of drumming, contemplative sit, sharing on feelings, some group exploration on a topic dealing with men's journey, and a closing ritual. Arising out of this meeting there are several smaller sharing meetings of no more than eight men that come together at least every two weeks. Then we have a weekend away in nature at least twice a year. Out of all of this we have the MROP and the FIRMing.

All of this activity has generated a loose community of men who support each other. If I were to pick one element, I would say the small groups are the most important.

DB: What in your estimation are some of the keys to sustaining and growing a culture of initiation for men?

GM: In addition to the above, to keep this going one needs to have an outreach branch of men who are taking every opportunity to spread the word about males and initiation. This means writing articles for papers and magazines, doing interviews with the media, putting on lectures and events in various community centres, retreat houses, and libraries around the country. These events must be largely experiential in nature and engage the soul at a gut level.

For MALEs to grow, the newly initiated men with talents should be invited into some part of the work in running MALEs (i.e., on to some committee), otherwise they will lose interest and will eventually leave. Arising from this, all officers should only hold office for a short limited period and hand-overs should be carried out with an eye for continuity. I'm also concerned that this movement is turning into a middle class movement. In my experience, the men from the other classes need this much more than the middle class. Therefore, the funding must be carefully managed to ensure that all men can come and join in all the activities.

At the same time, we should be cautious about the use of metrics to assess and quantify the impact of this work. After all, the spiritual journey of men is God's work and He deals with each of us uniquely.

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