Courage is not optional

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. "  

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

If you are unfamiliar with the English writer, Clive Stapleton Lewis, I would encourage you to pick up his very fine book, The Screwtape Letters. It is a dialogue between two demonic bureaucrats who are attempting to condemn one struggling and pitiful to eternal damnation.

I cannot confirm that these two functionaries are currently before the U.S. Senate for confirmation into the Trump administration, but it has been rumored.

The Screwtape Letters is a short book, but it is not a quick read. Because Lewis' observations about the human condition and about both the heights we can rise - as well as the depths to which we can sink - are so piercing and insightful that you will want to stop frequently and ponder.

But, Lewis' observation about courage and how it concerns us is as relevant today as it was during the Battle of Britain in World War 2 - when the book was originally penned as a series of articles.

Then, with bombs falling nightly, and the fate of the entire free world clearly in the balance, it was quite obvious that courage was required. One could see it daily in the bomb crews and fire crews who worked fearlessly and tirelessly to deny a German victory, and to ensure England's survival.

It may not be as clear to us that courage is a virtue that we must all develop. You might not think of my job or yours requiring it, but I assure you that any human action or interaction is fertile ground for courage to be called upon.

My employers and their so-called Human Resources Department actually offer training literature on "Leadership Courage". Clearly, there are some who believe courage to be a prerequisite to being an effective manager.

But, if we are honest (with ourselves and each other), we will acknowledge that courage is required most every day of our lives. Oh, yes, these ways are certainly less dramatic than those Americans who serve in the military - or in the police or fire departments of our cities. But, we all know there are days we'd rather stay in bed and pull the covers over our heads - rather than face another day of conflict, sometimes unfulfilling work, and the perils of rush-hour traffic.

You see, I firmly believe that courage is that essential virtue that - if it is absent - threatens the functioning of all other virtues. Because, I - like Lewis - recognize that armchair fortitude is meaningless. The astute observations of "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" is not only laughable, but it is downright contemptible. Because, unless you have been pursued by defensive player who outweighs you by at least 100 lbs., you cannot say what you would have done in any particular series of downs or how you could have done better.

It is easy to speak of courage until faced with death or injury or simply the inky darkness of emotional pain and depression.

I have been told at times that I was courageous for seeking the help of professional therapists to recover from both childhood abuse and a destructive and loveless marriage. I am always rather dumbstruck at these times, as I do not understand it.

No one congratulated me for drinking water today. No one lauded me for either breathing or eating a meal when hungry. So to congratulate me - or anyone - who seeks therapy for the exhibition of courage is inarticulate.

Getting up every day may require courage - it may require discipline and strength. But we receive no medals for doing that which we must. We receive no recognition for parenting our children, for scheduling either a doctor's appointment or a therapy session.

Perhaps we should, I cannot say. But what we should acknowledge is what happens in those encounters that follow.

The doctor may bring us a cancer diagnosis and our child may confess an addiction to sex or drugs. Our therapist may challenge us to change the way we have lived throughout our lives - to leave behind those coping mechanisms that once comforted us, but now only lead us into medicating behaviors and numbed-out souls.

In The Courage to Be, Paul Tillich writes:

The courage to be is the ethical act in which we affirm our own being in spite of those elements of existence which conflict with this essential self-affirmation.  

Courage is what enables us to get up today and treat others with kindness - even if we ourselves have not been treated kindly.

Courage is what enables us to hope when all those around us seem hopeless.

Courage is why - in spite of all the leading indicators - you persevere in the face of adversity - when you believe in the face of unbelief.

I find it instructive to remember that the most common refrain recorded in the Bible whenever an angel appears to we mere humans - is "fear not".

Courage, then, is acting as if we are not terrified - even though we are. Yes, it takes courage for a firefighter to run into a burning building. But remember. It also takes courage to persevere through depression or mid-life crisis.

Let us together, then, exhibit that courage that enables us to be our better selves - and to continue to aspire to that life which we have always dreamed of - and have always feared could not be.

Let us have the courage to risk it all - so that we can have it all.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
― Winston S. Churchill

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
― E.E. Cummings

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

"Atticus Finch" ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

dg 

2/7/2017

Sent from my iPad