I stand on the mountain and look around.  I see faces.  Some staring blankly ahead, others darting to and fro on an endless track of pain and confusion.  I see death, brought not by war or disease, but by the imminent self-destruction that occurs as one’s soul disintegrates.  The attack is brutal, and devastatingly thorough.  Soon, all I see are empty shells, still walking around but devoid of anything that resembles life.  I look toward Heaven with great fear upon my heart. 

Am I the last man on earth, Lord? 

I feel no better than or superior to anyone else, God.  My own faults and mistakes are many.  I have no more talent, intelligence, potential, or strength than other guys.  But knowing that any strength or skill I may have comes from You alone—in that I know I am indeed a man.  Lord, You designed the first human being and called him “Man,” Adam, and placed in him the breath and image of his Creator.  What is a man, but for his distinctive role as imago Dei, the image of God?  How can one be a man if he seeks not to be aligned with that identity?  The Messiah, of course, was the pure embodiment of Your intent for mankind.  Though I’ve failed abundantly in my attempts to live like Him, does no one else understand that a real man must try? 

Instead of kneeling at Your throne, they turn their backs and deny their King and Redeemer.  Maybe they'll look Your direction on Sunday, but the devil works seven days a week.  Ethics and virtue are an Atlantis in a sea of immorality.  With Your strength, men have the power to reclaim righteousness, but relativism, pride, or laziness mock their efforts. 

So many women and children are filled with unending pain, forced to take on all the duties of the males who left them behind.  The ones meant to love and serve with the intensity and sacrifice of Christ desert their families, unwilling to take control of their own weaknesses.  The women are strong, the children stay brave.  But a boat that’s lost its captain will so often crash upon the rocks, or become overwhelmed by the storm.  Why are many of these so-called leaders abandoning ship, God?  Guys all too easily tempted to move on to the next exhilarating fling.  These are no men.  Hearts in love only with greed, with lust, with pleasure.  No remorse over breaking covenants that were made and sealed in Your presence, O God. 

Here I wait in painful anticipation, Father, withholding from myself all that I desire until it may be accomplished in Your timing.  Am I the only one who is willing to hold out for something better?  I save my body, my soul, my heart, my love for the woman You’ve made for me to serve, Lord.  All I desire is to give her the smallest fraction of the unconditional love and grace that You have bestowed upon me.  Yet will no one else live this hard wait, even for a little while?  Are the women and children of this age destined to dwell in a world with none to be men to them?  Are the honorable roles of “father” and “husband” extinct? 

Surely it cannot be, dear Lord.  Surely I am mistaken.  There must be an army of men prepared to lead the world in Your name.  What about actors who portray the heroes that fight and live so confidently and courageously upon the silver screen?  What about the lawmakers and officials, so bold in their speech, so strong-willed in their beliefs?  It is surely not just an act; it mustn’t be a mere show.  They put forth the images of men, God, but can they be real men?  Hollywood marriages are a dime a dozen, so often taking place between drug rehabilitation or jail time.  Politicians today are known more for scandals and swindling than for their commitment to a nation.  We even elected a President who was willing to commit adultery in the sacred confines of the White House, and then lie about it to the owners of that House.  My Lord, if a President is not a real man, then who is?  Could I really be the only one left to fight for honor and purity? 

They are in such vain pursuit of a prize they can never attain, a peace they can never achieve, and happiness that will forever elude them.  Only You can provide such things, Lord, but they do not come to You to receive them.  They think their treasure will be found in sex, money, drugs, cars, fame, power, or the idol of the moment.  But these only leave behind a larger hole to be filled, a hole that brings the very being of a man to decay. 

The great thinkers of recent eras once declared You to be dead, Father, but I think perhaps their diagnosis was misdirected.  For I know that You live, eternal God, but could it be instead that man himself has died?  That image of God presented in Adam and perfected in Christ, will none fight with me to find it? 

I pray that I am wrong, that there are other men here who are still willing to live their lives in service to You and Your word.  No challenge is greater, but no cause is more worthy of attention.  So much is at stake, God.  Though it is a humbling and scary thought, I will stand alone if I must.  I don’t feel that strong.  But if I am the last man on earth, Lord, may I live and die a man steadfastly committed to his woman, his mission, and his God.