The book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates tells the story of two men with the same name. Both were born in Maryland. Both grew up with single mothers. Both had run-ins with the police by the time they were 11-years-old. But at this point their stories part.

One Wes Moore graduated from of John Hopkins. He eventually became a Rhodes Scholar. He went on to serve as a White House Fellow under former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and is an Afghanistan combat veteran. He also went on to write the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, reflects on his life and the life of the man with whom he shares a name.

As for the other Wes Moore? He currently resides in Jessup Correctional Institute’s maximum security unit. He is serving a life sentence without parole for his part in the shooting death of a Baltimore police officer.

The author Wes Moore wrote the book to reflect on what it is like to grow up without a father in the house. (His father died when he was three years old.) In an interview with USA Today, he made this observation: “My mother could teach me to be a good person, but she couldn’t teach me to be a good man.” In the book, he credits teachers and family members for intervening in his life.

As I think about both “Wes Moore’s”, two thoughts come to mind. I am eternally grateful for the handful of amazing men who reached out to me after my father died in 1978. My neighbor next door neighbor, Ken Cook, took me to play golf. And my dad’s former employee, Tom Donathan did the same. My employer during all of four of my years as an undergraduate student, Bill Groux, quite literally adopted me and kept me out of jail. My banker, T.J. Wallace treated me like I was really a credible man. Isn’t it funny how we end up becoming what people perceive us to be?

Moore’s book also reminds me that being a father is a calling. I am a biological father to three fine young men. They are the best boys a father could ever want. But I am also called to be a father figure to every young person that I am privileged to know. I can’t help it. My paternal instincts just kick in and I feel compelled to reach out to them. Several of my longtime friends have passed on now. Some of them left children behind…As I have said in previous posts; loyalty quite naturally extends to the next generation. It scares me to think of the consequences of not reaching out to the fatherless among us.

The “other” Wes Moore saw his father only three times in his life. It was during the third and final visit that Wes Moore’s father looked up from a drunken stupor and asked, “Who are you?”

Tomorrow I leave for church camp to serve as the “Head Men’s Counselor.” In essence, I will be a dorm dad for 300 boys. My primary role is to supervise the thirty plus college students who are serving as counselors, but there will also be ample opportunities to interact with the campers. In a group of 300, there must be a few “Wes Moore’s” out there. I don’t’ want to just have a role in the life of the “Other Wes Moore.” I want to meet and get to know both of them. The Wes Moore’s are out there, men. Let’s step up to the plate and fulfill our calling.