It is the desire of every right-thinking person to meet the adverse conditions of human experience with dignity, calmness, and fortitude; to withstand arguments of loss and defeat with hope and courage, and to face danger fearlessly. Such fortitude under conditions for which at the time no remedy has appeared is certainly commendable and is rightly honored wherever it is encountered. There is a much higher form of courage, however, which rises far above the ability to meet difficult situations calmly or to face danger intrepidly. This is the genuine moral courage which, when confronted by the necessity for making a decision which involves right or wrong, considers nothing but the highest right. True moral courage counteracts reluctance to take a stand contrary to accepted human standards. It enables the individual to proceed resolutely along the path leading to a righteous goal, insisting only that such action be based upon his highest sense of right. Though such a stand be taken in the face of criticism and violation of time-honored traditions, strength and wisdom will be gained with every step.
Mere animal courage is founded upon the assumption that physical force and aggressive human will constitute power. Those who accept this false standard commonly mistake material characteristics for true strength and valor and are prone to elevate animal courage and dominant human will above genuine moral courage, which enthrones God as the only power. A true consciousness of existence includes the knowledge that spiritual qualities are forever perfectly expressed through man. This enlightened understanding enables one to enter into conscious possession of spiritual attributes.
Truly great individuals, those who have faithfully served God and have rendered outstanding service to humanity, have been endowed in exceptional degree with moral courage. The Bible furnishes many inspiring examples of moral courage. Moses renounced that which to human sense seemed most desirable, that he might lead his people out of the darkness of materiality into the promised land of freedom and spiritual enlightenment. What but true moral courage —trust in God—could have enabled Daniel to come out unharmed from the den of lions or the three Hebrew captives, with heavenly assurance, to endure without injury the ordeal of the fiery furnace? What but an abundant measure of this high quality could have imparted to David the strength to stand before Goliath? The early Christians yielded their bodies to the flames, unflinchingly faced ferocious beasts, and suffered untold hardship and bitter persecution rather than surrender their spiritual integrity to human expediency. The teaching and example of the great Way-shower, Christ Jesus, are constant incentives to rise higher at any crisis in human experience, to the exaltation of spiritual power over physical force and so-called material law. The life of Mary Baker Eddy, the revered Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, exemplifies in remarkable degree the moral courage essential to high endeavor. Standing alone, facing a world whose submergence in materiality made impossible an immediate universal acceptance of the spiritual values her teachings inculcate, she remained immovable and unafraid, persevering steadfastly in her unselfish effort to impart her divine message to mankind.
