2025-03-30 A Meditation on Hidden Courage

“22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”” (Matt 14:22-27 ESV)

Trained up, there are hidden resources of the human spirit, courage that makes true the amazing one-man army, the fasted warrior finding unknown, previously undiscovered, strength. That is, one meal and we’re hungry. Ten meals, and we’re mildly becalmed but still Alive and even Focused. One wandering thought, and we’re aghast; a multitude, and we’re Christian.

Courage is like that. It mines a depth, a walk on water, a resource list Magnificent. It brings to the forefront hidden reserves, a final Lean On Me punch list: this much, I can hand over; that much, is mine to give; all this, is in the service of the saints.

Therefore initial outlay, and its prognosis: tired, weary, repetitive, devoid of inspiration. Let us talk ourselves up to a fever pitch, however! Let us discover the courage innate to the unfatigued Human Spirit. The inestimable, walk on water, one man or woman takes on ten, the plethoric nature of Leaning In, Adopting the Resource List Divine, finding Innate Meaning and Cause for elevated joy and elevated rebellion. We are rebellious against a world that crucified our Saint. Crucified our Role Model. Mocked and denied our Teacher.

And this means different things to different people: each has their locus—a time and place in space where we envision things, a retrieval, remembrances of a passing inconsequential comment by a teacher or peer, and if that’s not heavy enough a thought, we remember the unmemorable. So we are speaking into a crowded room, filled with spirits most serious and with a hush most severe, because it is our cue to speak or to Do. Our pantheon of role models, this is milked to the extreme, for the coherence called Man, Woman, and her or his Self Knowledge, Self Image, Capacity. No, we are not all of one stripe: each has their unique bundle of experiences, and our gods are untouchable though even some have been Touched it may seem. Today: we announce all-out war on the false gods and the failed spirits, whose moment of inglorious murmur is not easily passed over. We remember the Strength of a teacher or a guide. We recall the murmuring and cacophony of all whom were rooting for us, who built us up, who allowed that to each is given her or his unique Insight and Vantage Point, how we’re greeted on the street or subway, what lovers and friends remain there to build us up no matter how much we’ve fallen away.

Courage is the stark refusal of some to bless sin. It is a Nay, when all the world says blah. It is a stern rebuke of the sin, but love for the sinner. And Jesus was crucified as much for His Nay as for His Yea. All things are “Yes” in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 1:19): indeed, all-on amperage, all-on devil-may-care Courage comes out in spades, at the forefront, damn the torpedoes. The fact each is somehow incomplete because of a deep wound, yet refuses to let a happenstance murmur or unreciprocated greeting mean Anything holy, only a big open question not to worry over. We do not worry over those things that make us curse under our breath: instead, shouldn’t we laugh? That we fuss over a meal, whilst in theory mentally working on Higher Things? So we are those in cahoots with the saints, so far as we may go, but also let our Calling be the sum total: never get down on yourself, or worry that one is speaking for all: our pantheon, of friends, of teachers, of family, it bears up under a more careful and cautious Stewardship: we make no rash deductions, nor assume that one person speaks for the silent entirety. We do all this, because Courage is a poor tithe left at the altar, from one like ourselves known only for our Forward Faith, not our perfection of deeds nor our wide entourage of friends. This and more is a righteous judgment, and one day, the saints in the land will sit down to a grand feast, in respectful side-by-side mentality.