Think you are courageous? Meditation for 3/3/20104

Dataw Island; SC

“Courage is grace under pressure.”  - Ernest Hemmingway

“Prudence which degenerates into timidity (is not) the path to safety.”  - Viscount Cecil

   If courage is defined as the ability to act in the face of fear, then can we call the child answering a dare to jump out of a tree courageous?  How about the teenagers playing chicken, smashing cars into one another head on?   How does this differ from the person who jumps into the icy river to save the drowning child?  Is the soldier with bayonets at his back being forced into a headlong rush into machine gun fire being courageous?  Perhaps it is the difference between pride and humility.  If one is acting recklessly on a dare, it is about craving attention – wanting to be seen as being worthy or better than one’s peers.  If one is facing danger to avoid losing face it seems people-pleasing is the motive.   Acting in the face of fear when it is a self-less act is just as dangerous, but the intention is not recognition, the intention is the well-being of others. 

     Adversity gives us opportunity to put into practice the spiritual principles we learn.  But if we approach the adversity from the standpoint of pride or elevating ourselves, we put ourselves at unnecessary risk for what will be a fleeting moment of applause at best.  This does not just apply to risking physical harm, there are many more examples of courage in the face of other fears.  How about standing up for someone who is being unfairly portrayed when to do so will not be popular?  What about calling our friends out on improper or self-destructive behaviors?  What about making amends to others for our own wrongs?  What about pretending that we are being tolerant when we really are just being cowardly?  The list goes on.

     Tact, wisdom, fore-thought, fore-sight, vigilance and concern are all synonyms for the word prudence.  This is the middle ground we seek between fear and recklessness – simply acting in the face of fear is far from grounds of respect and desirability. It is not recklessness or attention getting, but the application of courage combined with prudence and humility that deserves honor. Understanding this distinction will save us much grief in life.

Today, may I recognize valor.   

  

If you would like to contribute to this effort, just click Here.  To 

contact me, click Here.  And whatever you do, have a

Happy Monday !!

David