I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
Courage, Caution, and Contagion
Do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (NRSV)
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (NRSV)
I'm brave, but I'm chicken[$#%&]
From "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morissette
From "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morissette
Since March of this year, almost all of my introspective writing has been about the damned pandemic in some way. I wish I could write about something else, but it seems that very little of my life has remained untouched. For me, life amid this pandemic has involved considering whether or not something is safe to do, worrying about disappointing people when I turn down an invitation to do something, and wondering if I'm a hypocrite for doing one thing but not another. Though my comfort zone has never been huge, it has grown a lot smaller in recent months, but I find that it is as inconsistent as ever.
For me, 2020 was supposed to be a year for cultivating courage, and, now that it is the last quarter of the year, I feel like I have failed abysmally. Back in February, I wrote,
The kind of courage I seek is courage of the heart. I want the courage to be myself, to put myself out there, to express my feelings for someone, to assert myself, to say things that need to be said, and to face criticism. I want the courage to get myself unstuck in life.
I wanted to cultivate courage so that I could make some progress in my life, but, ever since life ground to a halt back in March, I haven't felt like there's very much progress to be made.
I don't feel like I have grown in courage in any way. I'm not any more assertive than I was; I'm still afraid "to say things that need to be said"; and I still fear criticism. For example, I'm still afraid to share my political views online. I'm afraid that my opinions might be as shortsighted and underdeveloped as most other people's opinions, and I don't think I could withstand the proverbial firehose of half-truths and misinformation that will surely be fired at me in response.
I've wondered what it really means to be courageous amid this pandemic, and I've wondered if perhaps caution is a better virtue to cultivate in this time. Maybe the two are not mutually exclusive.
Lately, I've been thinking about a certain story from the life of Jesus. Before Jesus began His public ministry, He spent a long time in the wilderness, fasting and facing temptations.1 At one point, His tempter took Him to the highest point on the roof of the temple in Jerusalem and then dared Him to prove that He is the Son of God by jumping off the roof and letting angels catch Him. The tempter quoted the ninety-first Psalm, a song about God's protection, which states, "For [God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone."2
Jesus rejected the tempter's dare, quoting the Book of Deuteronomy, which states, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."3
Where is courage found in this story? Would Jesus have needed courage in order to jump off the temple roof? Was He cowardly for refusing to do so? I think that Jesus showed courage by standing up to a mocker and resisting the temptation to prove Himself. Jesus didn't need angels to catch Him, because He already had the God-given common sense to know better than to jump off the roof in the first place.
I wanted to cultivate courage so that I could make some progress in my life, but, ever since life ground to a halt back in March, I haven't felt like there's very much progress to be made.
I don't feel like I have grown in courage in any way. I'm not any more assertive than I was; I'm still afraid "to say things that need to be said"; and I still fear criticism. For example, I'm still afraid to share my political views online. I'm afraid that my opinions might be as shortsighted and underdeveloped as most other people's opinions, and I don't think I could withstand the proverbial firehose of half-truths and misinformation that will surely be fired at me in response.
I've wondered what it really means to be courageous amid this pandemic, and I've wondered if perhaps caution is a better virtue to cultivate in this time. Maybe the two are not mutually exclusive.
Lately, I've been thinking about a certain story from the life of Jesus. Before Jesus began His public ministry, He spent a long time in the wilderness, fasting and facing temptations.1 At one point, His tempter took Him to the highest point on the roof of the temple in Jerusalem and then dared Him to prove that He is the Son of God by jumping off the roof and letting angels catch Him. The tempter quoted the ninety-first Psalm, a song about God's protection, which states, "For [God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone."2
Jesus rejected the tempter's dare, quoting the Book of Deuteronomy, which states, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."3
Where is courage found in this story? Would Jesus have needed courage in order to jump off the temple roof? Was He cowardly for refusing to do so? I think that Jesus showed courage by standing up to a mocker and resisting the temptation to prove Himself. Jesus didn't need angels to catch Him, because He already had the God-given common sense to know better than to jump off the roof in the first place.
What exactly is courage in the face of contagion? Is it courageous to wear a mask in public, or is it a sign of fear? It takes courage to wear a mask if you're afraid that people will ridicule you for doing so. Is it courageous to turn down an invitation to do something, or is it a sign of fear? It takes courage to turn down an invitation if you're afraid of disappointing the person who invited you. Courage and caution are not mutually exclusive, and it might actually require courage in order to practice caution.
Though I think I've suffered a net loss in the courage department, I have had the opportunity to practice courage this year. As I've already noted, my comfort zone has become a lot smaller this year. Spending most of one's time at home and rarely traveling further than a nearby drive-thru for a couple of months will have that effect on a person. Over the past few months, I've had to stretch my comfort zone bit by bit, and doing so has required both courage and caution. I've returned to more and more places I frequented before the pandemic, but I've worn a mask to these places and tried to keep my distance from others.
Courage must not be confused with recklessness. It is not courageous to flout necessary precautions. Though Scripture tells us not to be afraid since God is with us, it also tells us not to put God to the test through irresponsible behavior. True courage does not have to prove itself.
Notes:
Though I think I've suffered a net loss in the courage department, I have had the opportunity to practice courage this year. As I've already noted, my comfort zone has become a lot smaller this year. Spending most of one's time at home and rarely traveling further than a nearby drive-thru for a couple of months will have that effect on a person. Over the past few months, I've had to stretch my comfort zone bit by bit, and doing so has required both courage and caution. I've returned to more and more places I frequented before the pandemic, but I've worn a mask to these places and tried to keep my distance from others.
Courage must not be confused with recklessness. It is not courageous to flout necessary precautions. Though Scripture tells us not to be afraid since God is with us, it also tells us not to put God to the test through irresponsible behavior. True courage does not have to prove itself.
Notes:
- Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 1:1-13
- Psalm 91:11-12 (NRSV)
- Deuteronomy 6:16 (NRSV)
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