Courage can manifest and be displayed in many ways. Men like Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela each were men of courage. Many such as Steven Bicko, martyred South African activist during the apartheid era have influenced me. In the United States during our own more socially expanding conscious period of the Civil Rights movement, many of us became aware of the likes of Medgar Evers through the music of artists such as Bob Dylan.
But I am not a pacifist. Not in the absolute sense. “There is a time for war and a time for peace” Ecclesiastes (something). But I do radically curb my aggressions. Some might say I do this “too much” – others “not enough”, but I am the only judge of what is right or wrong for me.
But I do admire courage … and … I am no hero … not in any “classic” sense. But I admire and try to live … as best I can … in a tenacious position of what I know is right. I am not overly concerned with the “right” others may wish for me to adopt or adapt too, I have to live my own life and with my own conscience, not my governments or my church or any other individuals. I have to live with myself. And I must learn to be that self regardless of all the rest … and that … in any culture takes courage. Because there are few cultures that are truly embracing of free, open, honest examination. They are virtually all closed and protectionist. Defending or radically asserting their own perceptions as absolute … either demanding compliance through intimidation or the force of violence. And we let our reason and rationale run amok … assuming our own absolutes. Absolutes born out of ignorance … and content to remain there.
I have faced, and continue to face the realities of poverty, I have considered and am confident I can survive and thrive if I were incarcerated. I have considered that death is not the end … only a transition of sorts … and though I do not relish the idea of dying (not now anyway) … I am not fearful of what it might be or what is held in store for me (I’d just rather delay it as much as possible – I am beginning to enjoy what ‘this’ life has to offer). But I can not live my life without courage … defined by me … and not any other.
In the early 1990’s my family began a tradition on Christmas day, after all the morning presents and such, of going out in the late afternoon or evening to see one of the recent motion picture releases. You can figure we caught virtually all the biggies that would have interested teens and younger children. But this was the first, and we went because the kid’s mother and I were both heavily into historical things. “Gettysburg” is one of my favorite flicks as it is fairly historically accurate based on the novel “The Killer Angels”. I love the portrayal of Lt. Colonel Joshua Chamberlin by Jeff Daniels. From the research I have done, it does seem very plausible. I have walked the area of Gettysburg where the actual event portrayed here occurred, numerous times. I still love the town, though I have become more intimate with the realities of life there, apart from nearly a hundred and fifty years removed from the battle that made it famous. But it is not the battle, or the events of three days in July 1863 that impress me here. It is courage …
I view this clip as a metaphor. It IS NOT a glorification of war. But it is a metaphor of what we all must at some time face in ourselves if we are to grow beyond the limits and impositions that others around us and the culture we inhabit would try to mold us into.
I am not a brave man … I am a man who knows what I feel … feel deeper than what I have been told is “right” … and I must be true to these depths. Few will ever understand just what these are … I will be happy if only one other can … and I think that is now very … very close.
