Editorial April 25, 1914 Issue

Heroism

John B. Willis

All those who are well acquainted with themselves, have come to know that there are quite enough discouraging factors in the average man's make-up to provoke the feeling that his redemption is a rather hopeless undertaking. It is possible, however, to grow enthusiastic over the latent nobility even of the seemingly debased, when one witnesses or recalls the superb heroism with which in the event of a mine-catastrophe men hazard their lives in the effort to reach their entombed fellows, or calmly accept death, as in the instance of the Titanic, in their devotion to what is largely but a sentimental ideal, namely, consideration for womanhood. The story of Scott and his four comrades, suffering unspeakably without groan or complaint and going on cheerily to the last in fidelity to the traditional thought of what becomes an Englishman, makes it easy to ignore mortal weakness. They have given us another glimpse of what it means to be an immortal, a man. Their heroism speaks for that divinity within which is able, when honored, so to subdue the fear and unworth of mortal sense as to make it possible for one to attain to Jude's ideal of human faultlessness "before the presence" of the divine glory.

Christian Science both evokes and calls into requisition the spirit of manhocd described by Browning in his reference to

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Heroism

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access