What Charlie taught about courage
Courage is doing the right thing when you do not know how it will work out, and anyone can choose it.
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
“We have to change our attitude to an attitude of courage. And that is from the Lord… Courage is doing the right thing when you do not know how it's going to work out. Courage is committing yourself to the good above the expedient… And the cool thing about courage is anyone can be courageous. You don't have to be smart. You don't have to be rich. You don't have to be well connected. Anybody can make a choice to be courageous. You just have to make that choice. The courage, the courageous person says, I don't care what will be done to me. I care what is good and what is true.”
Charlie did not talk about courage as a feeling. He talked about it as a decision. Speaking in a church setting, he said the attitude we need is one of courage, and he added a phrase that is easy to skip past: that is from the Lord.
His definition was plain enough for a child. Courage is doing the right thing when you do not know how it is going to work out. If the outcome is guaranteed, there is nothing brave about it. Courage lives in the not knowing, and it means committing yourself to the good above the expedient.
“Aristotle said that courage is the ultimate virtue. Without it, there are no other virtues. Think about that. If people aren't courageous, you don't have honesty. You don't have justice.”
He also said it is open to everyone. You do not have to be smart, rich or well connected. Anybody can make a choice to be courageous, and you only have to make that choice. The person who does, he said, stops asking what will be done to me and starts asking what is good and what is true.
Answering a young listener, he quoted Aristotle and said that without it there are no other virtues: if people are not courageous, you do not get honesty, and you do not get justice. A person can know what is right and still fail at it, until courage turns the knowing into doing.
Joshua heard the same command long before. Be strong and of a good courage, the Lord told him, because he would not walk alone. That is the courage Charlie described: not the absence of fear, but a decision made with God beside you.
Living it today
Name one right thing you have been putting off because you do not know how it will turn out: an honest conversation, an apology, a stand you need to take quietly. Do it today, and ask God to go with you.
A prayer
Lord, you have told me to be strong and of a good courage. Take my fear and give me a steady heart. Help me do the right thing even when I cannot see how it will turn out, knowing you are with me wherever I go. Amen.