Now we come to a fork in the road in the masculine journey, a stage that is both essential and, sadly, often overlooked and bypassed by many men. It is the lover stage. By this I do not primarily mean that time in a young man’s life when he falls in love with a girl. Though that is part of it, I don’t believe it is the core of the stage or even its ultimate expression. Instead, this is the season in a man’s life when his masculine heart is awakened to beauty and ultimately “The Beauty” when he discovers a sacred romance with God.