4-8-2011 Courage
TOTD: Simple or profound - What is courage in your perspective?
Why: Courage has been on my mind A LOT lately. I couldn't even pinpoint when I began thinking about its implications, but stick with me; there's a lot to this one.
Courage is the most fundamental quality to learn and apply once you gain a conviction of eternal truths. Having a testimony but lacking courage will result in either hypocrisy or rebellion. That about sums up the thesis statement.
That statement cuts me to the core because I know it's true, and yet I still lack the proper portion of courage for what I feel to be a deep testimony of eternal truths. The fact is, most of us do. We can be convinced of the truth and still not be converted. That is what we are here to learn.
In our pre-mortal state we heard the Plan of our Heavenly Father, which teemed with truth, and we all shouted for joy. But just merely being excited for our purpose here didn't accomplish its ends. That would be as absurd as Lance Armstrong being told he could compete in the Tour de France after having beat cancer and him getting excited as if he had already won. It still took the work.
That's where courage comes in. Courage bridges the gap between conviction and conversion. Courage is displayed in the work, and often the work is very small.
In my TOTD I asked if courage was simple or profound. As always I received responses that agreed with my thoughts and many that differed, but none were wrong in my assessment; just viewed from different perspectives. Here are some of the responses I received:
- "Courage is your reliance on your faith" - Micah
- "Courage is doing what is right when the world says or does the opposite" - Dinah
- "[Courage is] a right to have an opinion and actually taking action on that opinion" - Kyle
- "Doing something that you're not comfortable doing but is the right thing to do or doing the not so popular thing which is the right thing to do" - Alyssa
- "Courage is the ability to honestly assess our weaknesses and correct them and make them strengths" - Aubry
Courage is something that is profound, but just look at the simple statements my friends/family used to describe this profound concept: relying, doing right, taking action, doing something uncomfortable, correcting weaknesses. In just a few words we can comprehend something that will affect us eternally.
So in answer to my own TOTD question, I say that courage is profoundly simple yet simply profound.
I realize that in my own life the most courageous things I could be doing could fit on a simple checklist: say family/personal prayers daily, do family/personal scripture study daily, do a Family Home Evening once a week, attend my church meetings, and so on.
It won't come as a surprise to many that know me that I actually DID make a checklist for myself... In fact, I went ahead and made a new version of the customized planner I have been working on:
Why: Courage has been on my mind A LOT lately. I couldn't even pinpoint when I began thinking about its implications, but stick with me; there's a lot to this one.
Courage is the most fundamental quality to learn and apply once you gain a conviction of eternal truths. Having a testimony but lacking courage will result in either hypocrisy or rebellion. That about sums up the thesis statement.
That statement cuts me to the core because I know it's true, and yet I still lack the proper portion of courage for what I feel to be a deep testimony of eternal truths. The fact is, most of us do. We can be convinced of the truth and still not be converted. That is what we are here to learn.
In our pre-mortal state we heard the Plan of our Heavenly Father, which teemed with truth, and we all shouted for joy. But just merely being excited for our purpose here didn't accomplish its ends. That would be as absurd as Lance Armstrong being told he could compete in the Tour de France after having beat cancer and him getting excited as if he had already won. It still took the work.
That's where courage comes in. Courage bridges the gap between conviction and conversion. Courage is displayed in the work, and often the work is very small.
In my TOTD I asked if courage was simple or profound. As always I received responses that agreed with my thoughts and many that differed, but none were wrong in my assessment; just viewed from different perspectives. Here are some of the responses I received:
- "Courage is your reliance on your faith" - Micah
- "Courage is doing what is right when the world says or does the opposite" - Dinah
- "[Courage is] a right to have an opinion and actually taking action on that opinion" - Kyle
- "Doing something that you're not comfortable doing but is the right thing to do or doing the not so popular thing which is the right thing to do" - Alyssa
- "Courage is the ability to honestly assess our weaknesses and correct them and make them strengths" - Aubry
Courage is something that is profound, but just look at the simple statements my friends/family used to describe this profound concept: relying, doing right, taking action, doing something uncomfortable, correcting weaknesses. In just a few words we can comprehend something that will affect us eternally.
So in answer to my own TOTD question, I say that courage is profoundly simple yet simply profound.
I realize that in my own life the most courageous things I could be doing could fit on a simple checklist: say family/personal prayers daily, do family/personal scripture study daily, do a Family Home Evening once a week, attend my church meetings, and so on.
It won't come as a surprise to many that know me that I actually DID make a checklist for myself... In fact, I went ahead and made a new version of the customized planner I have been working on:
Well, in conclusion, I think we all need to go back and watch movies like these:
All of which are based on true stories and depict men fighting courageously against the odds to do what they feel is right.
Thanks for reading (all 2 of you :))))
posted by A. Travis Moore at
7:50 PM
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