“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.” –Mark Twain
We’ve probably all heard the news of the recent tragic shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., by now. You’ve likely even seen the heartbreaking video footage of police officers racing in to stop the killing.
Those first responders who moved quickly, without reservation or fear, showing unselfish devotion to protect and serve no matter the cost, prove that there are still courageous men out there. And without such courage, it’s very difficult to be as disciplined, honest, chaste, patient, self-reliant, compassionate, and resolute as these men were.
I have recently spent a lot of time thinking about courageous men, especially in my role as a wife and mother. As wives, our husbands are the head of our homes, they are the leaders, guides, providers, and protectors of our families. They are called to this task.
But where are those men outside the walls of our homes? We saw a few of them in the recent school shooting, but what about in the political arena? Where are the strong political leaders that are called to lead and guide our city, state, and country, defending our Constitution?
Our economy is in shambles. Our education system is failing. The government is continually rife with corruption. Because of all this, we have lost faith in most leaders.
There are a few, however, who are fighting hard and sticking to their word. We need more of them. More attorneys general like Steve Marshall, more congressmen like Barry Moore, more state representatives like Ernie Yarbrough.
But these men, although fighting hard, can't fight alone.
Our state and nation need strong men to lead us out of the darkness. It is going to take men of courage, toughness, and strong resilience to come forward and lead. There will be countless battles to face, but standing strong and remembering what our country was founded on will take us a lot further than making backroom deals with crooked, self-serving politicians.
When these leaders take the high road and face the scrutiny for standing strong and doing what they said they would do, we should be right behind them, carrying the torch and fighting the good fight. Having a strong faith, foundation, high morals, and strong values is something that we all should strive to have more of.
True courage enables us to endure hardship, to conquer any fear and temptation, and to choose the riskier and more strenuous path when we’d rather take the easier way out.
Without courage, it’s impossible to be anything other than a non-entity.
So it is time to take courage and tackle corruption head-on. It’s time to stop sugarcoating the truth and saying things just to appease someone's feelings. Take responsibility. Money doesn’t spend itself, cars don’t drive themselves, and guns don’t shoot people. There is always somebody behind these things. Tackle them, bring corrupt officials to justice, and set up new systems to prevent such things from happening again. We may not all carry a badge, hold a political title or a high-ranking position, but at the end of the day, we are all in this together and we need to hold ourselves accountable.
Start in your home with your family. Invest heavily in education, ensuring that all children have access to quality schools and teachers that are allowed to teach, not forced to indoctrinate.
There are many problems that we face, but if this country turns from its wicked ways and gets back to God, there can be bigger victories. With God, faith, courage, strength, and determination, we can overcome the greatest of obstacles.
“Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.” –Samuel Johnson
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email ashley.carter@1819news.com.
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