Article January 11, 1993 Issue

Meeting the demand for courage

Impulsive animal courage may come easily. But it's God-impelled moral courage that helps mankind in the truest way.

Tony Lobl

I was playing in a soccer match. On our side there was a tough but fair player who moved with momentum on and off the ball. As the game progressed it became clear that one of our opponents saw but one way to stop this player—by fouling him. Tempers began fraying, and the situation was poised to collapse into a violent confrontation. There seemed to be an urgent need for somebody to step in and take control of the situation.

I felt I needed to pray before considering any action. My prayer came in the form of a poem. It was one written by Mrs. Eddy, and the line that came to mind was "Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain, / That make men one in love remain." I reasoned from the basis of one God, one divine Mind, one universal source of thought. I glimpsed that where aggressive and retaliatory thoughts appeared to be, there was, in reality, only holy thought. And where a conflict seemed evident, there was, in truth, the heavenly strain of pure and perfect harmony. I stayed with these spiritual truths until I had a clear conviction of the illegitimacy of any cause for conflict. God, Love, I knew, is the only genuine cause. Consequently I lost all anxiety about the possibility of confrontation.

The results were heartening and immediate. As it turned out, I didn't need to take any action. Nor did anyone else! The foul kicking suddenly stopped, and there was no eruption. Moreover, the two potential combatants gradually struck up an accord, eventually laughing and joking together and really looking like men that "one in love remain." I was almost surprised at this visible affirmation of all I had been praying to perceive!

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