Sheridan, USA October 04, 2025 Innovation Times Senior Correspondent
True strength isn’t hiding your pain; it’s daring to show it. Those words form the heartbeat of Pastor Gary L. Wilkerson’s chapter Embracing Strength Through Vulnerability in the groundbreaking book Men Don’t Cry. As World Mental Health Day approaches on October 10, with the theme Breaking the Silence: Men’s Mental Health and Access to Care in Times of Crisis, his message could not be more urgent or more necessary.
For Pastor Wilkerson, the phrase “men don’t cry” was not just a childhood lesson. It was a command, a cultural law, a weight that shaped his entire understanding of masculinity. Like so many boys, he grew up internalizing the belief that showing sadness, expressing pain, or revealing vulnerability was shameful. That belief did not remain in childhood. It grew with him, shaping how he built relationships, how he carried burdens, and how he wore strength like armor.
What he discovered over years of struggle and reflection is that this lie does not simply harm individuals. It destroys lives. Men who accept the myth that they must always appear strong, stoic, and unshaken carry invisible burdens that eat away at their joy, their families, and their very identity. Pastor Wilkerson knows this truth deeply, and in his chapter, he brings it to life with raw honesty and compassion.
He tells the story of what happens when men trade authenticity for silence. The pressure to endure without tears, to suffer without words, creates an unbearable isolation. Men become masters of hiding pain, yet prisoners of it at the same time. Pastor Wilkerson unmasks this cycle for what it truly is: a cage that suffocates men slowly.
Society has long celebrated toughness as the hallmark of manhood. From an early age, boys are praised for endurance, strength, and self-control. But Pastor Wilkerson argues that these ideals come at a heavy cost. Behind the smiles and achievements, countless men are crumbling. They wrestle with depression, anxiety, and loneliness, yet feel no permission to voice their pain. Vulnerability has been mislabeled as weakness, and tears have been cast as failures.
What makes this chapter profoundly transformative is the way Pastor Wilkerson turns that false script upside down. He shows that vulnerability is not weakness but courage. Emotions are not a threat to masculinity but evidence of humanity. Denying them does not make a man strong; it leaves him broken. True bravery is found not in suppressing pain but in facing it, naming it, and allowing others to see it.
Pastor Wilkerson describes his own journey in seasons. In the first, he learned how suppressing emotions created distance in his relationships. Family and friends sensed the walls he built, even when he appeared strong. In silence, he was losing connection, intimacy, and peace. What he once thought of as strength was actually the very thing robbing him of love and joy.
The second season revealed the physical and spiritual toll of silence. Bottled-up emotions became stress, stress became exhaustion, and exhaustion became despair. He discovered what countless men experience: that silence does not protect you, it slowly consumes you. What is unspoken in the heart eventually speaks in the body, in restlessness, illness, or collapse.
The third season was the season of awakening. Pastor Wilkerson began to see that vulnerability was not an enemy but a friend. Admitting pain did not strip him of strength; it deepened it. Tears did not betray weakness; they made space for healing. This discovery became not only personal but pastoral. As a leader, he recognized that the men around him carried the same burdens. His choice to open up became an invitation for others to do the same.
This is the power of Embracing Strength Through Vulnerability. It is not theory, it is lived truth. Pastor Wilkerson’s voice resonates with authenticity because he has walked the road of silence, and he has walked the road of healing. He knows what it costs to remain quiet, and he knows what it gives back to finally speak.
On World Mental Health Day, his words will echo with particular force. Men across the world are in crisis. Suicide rates among men remain alarmingly high. Too many fathers, brothers, and sons are carrying silent battles that they never feel free to share. Access to care is not only about resources but also about permission; the cultural permission for men to admit they need help. Pastor Wilkerson’s message delivers that permission.
The brilliance of his chapter is its capacity to touch every reader. For men, it is a mirror. It reflects their hidden struggles, their silent tears, their unspoken fears. For women, it offers a window into the unvoiced pain of the men they love. For communities, it is a wake-up call to break the stigma that has long shackled men’s mental health.
Every paragraph of Embracing Strength Through Vulnerability dismantles the lie of invincibility. It affirms that strength and softness can coexist, that courage and tears can live side by side. Pastor Wilkerson’s words restore dignity to emotions and honor to honesty.
This chapter is more than testimony; it is an invitation. It invites men to lay down the heavy mask of unshakable strength. It invites them to embrace the kind of courage that transforms pain into healing and silence into connection. It calls them to rediscover what it truly means to be human.
In recommending Men Don’t Cry, one cannot overstate its importance. The book is not just a collection of stories; it is a lifeline. It provides language for men who have been silent too long. It builds bridges between their private suffering and the care they desperately need. And Pastor Wilkerson’s chapter is one of its brightest beacons.
For those ready to take this step, Men Don’t Cry is widely available. The Amazon Kindle edition offers instant access for men who want to begin the journey privately. The Paperback edition provides a companion to keep close or share with a group. The Hardcover edition offers a lasting reminder of a movement that is reshaping the way we think about men and mental health.
Buying this book is not just an act of reading; it is an act of change. It is choosing to stand against stigma, to affirm that men have the right to feel, and to declare that vulnerability is a form of strength worth celebrating.
Pastor Wilkerson’s chapter will change lives because it speaks directly into silence. It says to every man who has hidden his tears: you are not weak, you are human. It says to every father who has carried burdens alone: you deserve healing. It says to every community: it is time to create spaces where men can be whole.
In his voice, readers hear not only confession but conviction. They hear the weight of lived experience and the light of hope. They hear a pastor’s heart and a man’s journey. Above all, they hear a truth long buried beneath cultural lies: that men do cry, and that when they do, they do not lose strength; they gain it.
On October 10, as Pastor Wilkerson speaks, his words will ripple far beyond the stage. They will plant seeds of change in the lives of men who have been silent too long. They will invite communities to break the chains of stigma. And they will remind us all that true strength is not in hiding pain but in daring to show it.
Embracing Strength Through Vulnerability is not just a chapter. It is a manifesto for a new kind of courage. It is a testimony of what happens when silence ends and healing begins. And it is a call to every man, everywhere, to find the bravery to be fully, honestly, and unapologetically human.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pastor Gary Wilkerson, Founder and Co-Chairman of KINGDOM BRIDGES, LLC, is a pastor, entrepreneur, and business executive dedicated to developing leaders and empowering communities. With extensive experience in management, marketing, sales, and international trade, he has founded multiple organizations, including Calling Down Heaven Ministries, MN3 Productions, and Gilead Springs International, all focused on mentorship, entrepreneurship, and humanitarian development. As co-founder of AFRESMART Conferences and an international ambassador, Pastor Wilkerson bridges global networks, creating opportunities for collaboration between nations and advancing infrastructure and economic development across African countries.
Through KINGDOM BRIDGES and initiatives like Michelsen Mining Ltd., ATERIA GLOBAL, and True Guardian Commodities & Services, he maximizes local resources and fosters technological growth. A devoted follower of Christ, husband, and father, Pastor Wilkersonchampions civility and humanitarianism worldwide. Recognized as an International Ambassador of Civility with ICN (IChange Nations), he leads programs such as the CLIMATE ACTION Platform under Congress for Global Communication, consistently working to unite communities, inspire honor, and build a better world.
