It's too common an occurrence—kids hanging out together and smoking marijuana. Several years ago, a friend of mine who was in high school at the time decided to challenge this inclusion of drugs in an evening with another friend. Fortified by a beginning understanding of God's law, through which God governs and protects His children, the student told his friend he wasn't going to smoke pot that night—in fact, he was going to give it up altogether. Much to his surprise, his friend, a habitual drug user, didn't challenge the decision at all. Instead, he was supportive, responding with words to this effect: "If that's the decision you've made, I'm certainly not going to try to persuade you to change it." That night neither one used drugs. And my friend has since gained his complete freedom from drug use.
Mary Baker Eddy states unequivocally in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, "There is too much animal courage in society and not sufficient moral courage." Science and Health, pp. 28-29 Elsewhere the textbook states: "Moral courage is 'the lion of the tribe of Juda,' the king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in the forest." Ibid., p. 514 As I thought about my friend and his moral stand that night years ago, I pondered the implications of these statements and began to ask myself: What is true moral courage? And why is it not expressed more consistently—especially if having this courage enables one to be like "the lion of the tribe of Juda," which is always "free and fearless"?
I began to think more deeply about the basis for moral courage. I reasoned that since whatever is true or real must have its origin in God, the only creator, moral courage also must have its roots in God and is therefore spiritually based.
