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Medtation on Courage - continued
 

soldier saying goodbye to young familyVeterans of other campaigns display another attitude. A father of an infant who needed a heart transplant placed his military service ahead of his deep felt desire to be at home with his sick son. I was profoundly moved by the courage this man displayed. Both this man and his wife confronted the danger of the death of their baby and yet made a choice that was selfless and the least comfortable. The soldier admitted freely that his heart yearned to be with both his wife and his child but he was more needed in the military theater where he could actually do some concrete good rather than in the operating room where he was absolutely powerless to do much. He and his wife felt the burden of their decision. They also expressed faith that regardless of the outcome they would be given the courage to do, what they considered, the right thing. Regardless what we think about the war ideologically this act of bravery inspires us.

Sponville’s analysis of courage can help us dig deeper into the quality and character of these brave parents. Had they absolute assurance that their baby would live, either because of their implicit faith in God or because they felt that they would be rewarded for their “faithfulness” to God’s cause, their courage would be less than virtuous. Their belief that they could serve others at their expense is genuinely courageous. Whether the soldier’s calling to military service in this war was “right” or “wrong” may not be the primary question. The fact is, he made a virtuous, courageous decision.

pull-out quoteNow back to the highjackers. Had they been true believers in the cause of liberating the world of the insidious disease of Western colonization and injustice, had they believed this to such an extent that they willingly sacrificed their lives for the benefit of men, women and children who are suffering — they would, like the soldier we mentioned, be genuinely courageous. This conclusion would make the statements of Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect, correct. Compared with outright cowardice, there is something admirable about courage even when the results are blatantly evil. Sponville explains that courage that risks your own life is superior to the type that only harms others with little effect on yourself.

The courage of soldiers, terrorists, and parents must be linked to placing one’s self or what one values in harms way with no thought of the outcome. The victor and the vanquished can be morally courageous. There are even varieties of genuine courage that are directed toward good or evil causes and results. Genuine moral courage is characterized by the willingness to persist, overcome fear, despair, disgrace and hopelessness, and above all— self interest.

I heard a call to courage the other night and turned away from it. A woman was screaming outside my bedroom window. Not an uncommon sound in our area; so common, I have become desensitized. Yet I did sense her pain and fright, even though it sounded muffled in alcohol. I grieved that I didn’t fight off my cynicism and excuses. But what was I to do? Should I have risked my neck to intervene in a street scrap? Could I do it without testosterone-based bravado for the sheer beauty of the moral gesture? Was it prudent to intervene or would my presence escalate the violence? Ultimately, I conclude that regardless of the outcome, for me to express moral courage I should have persisted and pushed through my sleepy laziness even if my actions themselves were ineffectual. Courage is not so much about what is to be done but that something is to be done. It might be intervening, calling the police, shouting out the window but courage demands more than my turning over and going back to sleep.

Sponville’s mediation on courage has inspired me to be less judgmental about what others choose to do when called on to be courageous. The French sage has given me an effective tool for evaluating the integrity of my courage even if I am not sure what actions to take. What I do may be guided by another virtue, perhaps prudence, but that I act with courage motivated by compassion is now within my grasp. The next occasion on which I hear a scream or witness injustice, I will at least understand the nature of my choices. I am back in my living room now, CNN interrupting my thoughts with the image of a British soldier giving candy to an Iraqi child on the battlefield and I am struck by the courage.

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