Counting Courage in Formation
But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. Luke 22:32
I'm reading Joseph Plumb Martin's memoir of his experience as a soldier in the American Revolution. Early on, Martin reflects that when he first considered fighting his courage had sprouted but hadn't fully germinated.
This is the product of years' perspective having come through the war safely, but I wonder how many leave open such a possibility. I think we often take one sounding, determine with binary finality, I am courageous, or, I am not, and proceed accordingly – never to re-examine.
What if, by God's grace, courage is sprouting in us today that will bear fruit later on? What if we allow for the fact that we might see Jesus better tomorrow and that the possibilities that seem too daunting today might adjust accordingly? Surely Joseph Plumb Martin is not alone in his ability to see himself, and his courage, as a work in progress.
Maturation, Martin notices, also transcends a mere internal affair. Because he finds himself growing in his ability to face challenges with courage, his writing, what the Christian might call his testimony, also changes markedly. When one has faced bullets, or the equivalent in civilian life, one musters a certain amount of pluck at the possibility of condescension or rejection from those who might consider themselves one's betters.
Challenges Martin of the impact of his Revolutionary war experience on his writing, "I never learned the rules of punctuation farther than just to assist in fixing a comma to the British depredations in the state of New York; a semicolon in New Jersey; a colon in Pennsylvania, and a final period in Virginia,"
Keep in mind that Joseph Plumb Martin lived these experiences in real time. The Revolution in which he took part and about which he was at times anxious had its doubters. So does the renewal of individuals and cultures that Christians claim. It is to our detriment if we dismiss the validity of our experience in Christ, honest about our anxiety and our progress, because we are waiting for the outcome of every battle to be fully evident.
I'm reading Joseph Plumb Martin's memoir of his experience as a soldier in the American Revolution. Early on, Martin reflects that when he first considered fighting his courage had sprouted but hadn't fully germinated.
This is the product of years' perspective having come through the war safely, but I wonder how many leave open such a possibility. I think we often take one sounding, determine with binary finality, I am courageous, or, I am not, and proceed accordingly – never to re-examine.
What if, by God's grace, courage is sprouting in us today that will bear fruit later on? What if we allow for the fact that we might see Jesus better tomorrow and that the possibilities that seem too daunting today might adjust accordingly? Surely Joseph Plumb Martin is not alone in his ability to see himself, and his courage, as a work in progress.
Maturation, Martin notices, also transcends a mere internal affair. Because he finds himself growing in his ability to face challenges with courage, his writing, what the Christian might call his testimony, also changes markedly. When one has faced bullets, or the equivalent in civilian life, one musters a certain amount of pluck at the possibility of condescension or rejection from those who might consider themselves one's betters.
Challenges Martin of the impact of his Revolutionary war experience on his writing, "I never learned the rules of punctuation farther than just to assist in fixing a comma to the British depredations in the state of New York; a semicolon in New Jersey; a colon in Pennsylvania, and a final period in Virginia,"
Keep in mind that Joseph Plumb Martin lived these experiences in real time. The Revolution in which he took part and about which he was at times anxious had its doubters. So does the renewal of individuals and cultures that Christians claim. It is to our detriment if we dismiss the validity of our experience in Christ, honest about our anxiety and our progress, because we are waiting for the outcome of every battle to be fully evident.
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