“The world's battlefields have been in the heart chiefly; more heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet, than on the most memorable battlefields in history.”
-Henry Ward Beecher
Clark Poling (a Dutch Reformed minister), George Fox (a Methodist minister), Alexander Goode (a Jewish rabbi), and John Washington (a Catholic priest) became fast friends in 1942 while attending a training school for Chaplains at Harvard College. In January 1943 all four men embarked for England together on the USAT Dorchester, along with 900 soldiers.
On February 2nd, the Dorchester was torpedoed by a German submarine and immediately began to sink. The four chaplains worked as a team to try and get the soldiers into life jackets and onto lifeboats. When the life jackets ran out, the four chaplains took theirs off and gave them to soldiers waiting, but kept working to get the men off the ship. Within 27 minutes of being hit, the Dorchester sank, carrying 672 men down with it. It was reported by survivors that the four chaplains were last seen together on the deck, arms linked, praying as the ship went down.
Here is a jaw-dropping example of the virtue of courage. And this story, as do all stories of extraordinary heroism, shakes us and reminds us of who we can be. Obviously this is worthwhile. But there is also a risk in telling the kind of stories that inspire books, and movies, and songs. They can leave the 99% of us who will never find ourselves on a sinking ship or a bloody battlefield, or in a burning building, or a hijacked airplane with a distorted understanding of courage---and heroism.
“The world's battlefields have been in the heart chiefly; more heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet, than on the most memorable battlefields in history.”
We must recognize that there is the extraordinary in the ordinary!
If we wait for epic moments to begin practicing courage, and to reveal the hero in each one of us, this great big world of ours is going to go ahead and finish falling apart. Because there is no goodness, no “doing the right thing,” without courage.
Courage is about withstanding hardships for the greater good, resisting temptation for the greater good, and then taking positive action for the greater good. It challenges you to be bigger than you’d otherwise be, and to en-courage others to step up as well. It is found at the testing point of every virtue.
Yes, soldiers, and first responders, and martyrs can be wonderful examples of courage and heroism. But so too can:
-Parents who resist the temptation to stop parenting prematurely
-Teens who resist negative peer pressure, and do what’s right instead of what’s popular
-Children who choose to not bully, and then stand with the one being bullied
-Employees who choose not to gossip
-Spouses who choose to remain faithful in good times and bad
-Friends who are willing to speak the truth in love to one another
Each of us has the ability to practice courage everyday, in little and big ways. We don’t have to go looking for opportunities either, we just need to be paying attention
Because in those opportunities each of us has the chance, no the responsibility, to be a hero.
Questions for reflection:
Do you want to be a hero?
Who models the virtue of courage for you? How?
What is one thing you can begin doing to practice the virtue of courage?
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About Me
- Ross Porter
- Dr. Ross Porter received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Master of Divinity (Theology) and Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he first became interested in the integration of psychology and spirituality. He is a teacher, author, counselor, and consultant, specializing in integrative psychology, virtue ethics and family systems. He has taught at the high school, college, and graduate school levels. Ross is also the Founder and Executive Director of Stillpoint Family Resources, a non-profit organization that offers counseling services to individuals, couples, and families in crisis, with nine different office locations throughout Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties (specific office locations can be found at www.stillpointfamilyresources.org). In 2009, Dr. Porter was named an “Outstanding Angeleno” by the Los Angeles Daily News. Ross and his wife Jennifer have been married for 21 years, and have four beautiful children. John Michael, their son who has Down Syndrome is their first born.
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