I feel that Courage is probably the most important of the virtues.  As C.S Lewis says “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”  Without Courage, would you be able to share your Wisdom when it might not be appreciated, or follow your Faith when those around you knock you down for it, or follow your Vision and dreams?

Compared to our Ancestors, our lives are much less fraught with instances that require courage just to survive.  We don’t have to worry about how to survive the harsh winters.  The path outside our door is now well mapped; the monsters and the unknown beyond it is now long gone.

Is physical courage, courage that acts in defense or protection of something tangible, the only kind of courage?  Not necessarily.  While physical courage is both valued and important, so is moral courage, acting in defense or protection of the intangible.

Mark Twain stated “It is curious – curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”  I’m not sure this is so true.  While working for a large law firm, a friend of mine watched as another co-worker was sexually assaulted by one of the senior partners.  Knowing full well that it would probably cost her current job as well as any chance she had to become a lawyer herself, she reported the incident and refused to back down on her testimony.  This type of courage is becoming more and more prevalent:  the nurse who sees the doctor she works with alter the numbers on his billing statements and reports it; the young man working at a very conservative company asks about insurance benefits for his boyfriend.  Even with the possibility of losing their jobs, they still did what they believed was correct for them.

The current definition of Courage in the Dedicant Handbook is “The ability to act appropriately in the face of danger.”  That doesn’t really work well for me.  I feel that moral courage is of a higher need now than physical courage.  Yes, if I had to, I’d run to grab a child in danger of being run over, or any other event that I had the skills to deal with.  But even without physical skills, I can be morally courageous all of the time.  My definition of Courage: “The quality of mind, body, and spirit to face any situation firmly and confidently, without retreating.” (414 words)