Courage

Here's a short piece on courage and its place in education (Chapel Talk October 3, 2011):

What if I told you that I heard that there was a sale on for chicken wings at the deli counter at the neighborhood WalMart and I wanted to be the first in line, so I ran right across Britton Road without checking for traffic.

What if, instead, I ran across Britton in order to save a young child who had wandered out of the parking lot and onto the street?

What if I saw the same child, but I looked around but decided that someone else would probably take care of her, and that it wasn’t really my responsibility?

All three situations involve me making a decision about crossing Britton, but the situations are very different and my ability to understand the differences shapes my decision significantly.

We all know that courage is a thing that we’re supposed to have. Indeed, this school was founded with a call toward courage and a call toward faith. Our crest, emblazoned with the words Fideliter et Fortiter implore us all to act with faith and with courage as we live our lives. The lion sought it during his journey to Oz, Dr. Martin Luther King demonstrated it on marches and in speeches at a time when his very life was at stake, and today, possibly as we leave chapel and head back to class, each and every one of us will have an opportunity to act courageously.

So why is courage so important?

Whether you’re standing up for a classmate when she’s being mistreated, telling a friend bad news, admitting to your teacher that you didn’t study for today’s test, or telling your parents that you were the one who broke the vase, each time we demonstrate courage, we make a difference in a positive direction. That is why courage is so important.

Great acts of courage are inspirational and we can all point to examples that set the bar for each of us, but it’s in the day-to-day living of our lives that we must strive to live life courageously. It is our duty to our selves, our community here at School and ultimately to our world that we embrace this way of living and work to set an example for one another in the way Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and others have in their lives.

As members of the Casady School community, we must strive to be the kind of person who isn’t afraid to stand up and do the right thing. We must strive to be the kind of person who isn’t afraid to admit to our failings. We must strive to be the kind of person who is courageous enough to make mistakes, learn from them and to muster the courage to make even more mistakes.  

“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead