Moral courage—"king of the mental realm"
With delightful imagery, Mary Baker Eddy describes moral courage in these words: "Moral courage is the lion of the tribe of Juda,' the king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in the forest. Undisturbed it lies in the open field, or rests in 'green pastures, ... beside the still waters.'" Science and Health, p. 514 . What is this moral courage, which is so attractively pictured?
Moral courage, in contrast to physical courage, is the strength to be honest, ethical, fearless, undisturbed; to do the right thing regardless of pressure to the contrary. Moral courage does not hide behind trees or creep about timidly! When moral courage motivates an individual, he acts with God-given strength and freedom, and he rests quietly, without tension. Moral courage is plainly an expression of one's God-given dominion.
Christian Science teaches us that God is the one source, the one cause, of all reality, and that He is totally good and perfect. Man, His offspring, is made in His image. Therefore, man's real selfhood inherits infinitely good qualities from God, the one Parent. The man of God's creating reflects dominion. As we understandingly claim our God-given dominion, we find ourselves expressing such qualities as moral courage in our present experience.
Sometimes an individual is described as "having the courage of his convictions." Does not moral courage give us the ability to act humanly from our highest spiritual convictions? On pages 115 and 116 of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy lists three degrees of qualities in her "Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind." The "first degree" elements are mortal, depraved characteristics such as hatred, pride, and deceit. The "second degree," transitional qualities are the moral qualities such as honesty, temperance, and affection. The "third degree" qualities are spiritual qualities, which man's real selfhood eternally includes. These are attributes of God such as wisdom, purity, love, and holiness.
As we progressively express the moral, transitional qualities and simultaneously let go of the false, first degree, mortal mind qualities, we can increasingly understand our spiritual nature as the likeness of God. Moral courage strengthens us in our resolve to express our true being, our spiritual dominion as God's offspring. Moral courage, in common with the other transitional qualities, has its source in God's supremacy and perfection.
For example, moral courage strengthens us in our endeavor to be honest when weakness and opportunity might suggest the temptation to fib, to exaggerate, to shade a meaning, to be hypocritical. God is infinite Truth, and we progressively find our spiritual oneness with Truth as we are strictly honest in our present human experience. Moral courage strengthens our desire to obey the Ten Commandments when prevailing opinion and temptation suggest indulgence of immoral, unethical, lawless behavior. When we are tempted with discouragement or weariness or doubt, moral courage enables us to hold strongly to what we know about God and our relationship to Him.
Many of the great Bible characters discovered this quality of moral courage as an expression in their human experience of their spiritual individuality. Moses courageously followed God's command that he lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The three Hebrew men continued to worship the one God despite the threat of annihilation in a fiery furnace. David ran forth to meet Goliath. Nehemiah continued to trust God and built the wall around Jerusalem regardless of overwhelmingly discouraging suggestions to the contrary. All such Old Testament figures illustrate the quality of moral courage in action. And, naturally, their moral courage also protected them in their stand for what they knew was God's guidance. Moral courage helped them fearlessly meet the demand to express God in their experience.
Christ Jesus, of course, stands as the ultimate example of moral courage. He had taught the people that God alone is Life, the one Father, and that acceptance of the Son brought a realization of sonship. Strengthened with this understanding, Jesus had the moral courage to lay down his mortal sense of life so that all might see the proof of his teaching, namely, that because God is Life, death itself can be proved powerless. The Master thus demonstrated supreme moral courage, fearless willingness to act upon his conviction of his inseparable oneness with God as God's Son.
Moral courage is essential in the warfare that every individual must wage within his own thinking as he endeavors to make genuine progress in manifesting God's spiritual qualities. Science and Health states: "There is too much animal courage in society and not sufficient moral courage. Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their course." Ibid., pp. 28–29 . Through the redeeming power of God's Christ the individual gains moral courage and is enabled to wage this warfare with God-bestowed strength and dominion. As he does this in his own thinking and acting, he finds himself helping all mankind in the collective struggle to overcome evil with God's goodness.
Great spiritual motivation and conviction are required in this mental warfare. As the textbook also states: "Fear of punishment never made man truly honest. Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right." Ibid., p. 327 . Fear, a false motivating power, progressively loses its seeming hold on the thinking and acting of the individual who is becoming acquainted with his ability to express moral courage.
For example, in the business world the individual who expresses moral courage firmly expects his understanding of God to furnish answers to inflation or to job changes or to an uncertain economic climate. Instead of becoming demoralized by rapid change and uncertainty, he continues to grow in spiritual understanding and expects such growth to furnish him with progressive answers in his business affairs. And one's demonstration of moral courage not only provides right answers for him, but through expressing Christ, Truth, one's moral courage inevitably acts as a healing, leavening agent in the entire business community.
If one has lost his job and is fearful, perhaps tempted to believe that shortages of opportunity exist or that he is a victim of uncontrollable conditions, moral courage enables him to acknowledge the spiritual fact that there is a right place in God's universe for every one of His offspring. Neither shortage nor surplus exists in God's economy. The temptation to mentally yield to what seem overwhelming forces of error is overcome as the individual confidently, strongly looks to God for answers. Armed with moral courage, each of us can look confidently to God, expecting answers to every kind of problem.
An individual's strong, active acknowledgment of God's continuous power and presence helps neighborhoods. Moral courage overcomes timidity and fear, enabling one to impart wisdom, guidance, safety. Moral courage enables one to roam freely and fearlessly, not in a foolish, unprotected sense, but with a conviction of the allness and power and presence of God.
The tribe of Judah, of which the lion was the symbol, was the tribe in ancient Israel from which the Davidic line of kings came, and Jesus was of this lineage. In the book of Revelation, the Revelator wept with discouragement when he had a vision of a sealed book that no man was able to unseal. Then, the record states: "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." Rev. 5:5 . Here, again, is the symbolism of what moral courage can accomplish when mere mortal strength is not enough!
An individual's exercise of moral courage is known by its fruits: freedom, leadership, fearlessness, an inner peace, the Christly ability to rest "beside the still waters." When God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, He said, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." Job 38:3 . We find ourselves able to meet the demand to demonstrate God's power and presence in every area of our experience as we claim our birthright of moral courage.
