Faith - the courage to believe
Many of us have heard the saying ‘If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything’, at some point in our lives. The context for this well-know phrase, describes how faith centres us and without it we can easily be swept off our feet. It refers to a belief within that demands we reach out for something more meaningful in life.
Before you examine your own faith, let's consider two remarkable men who demonstrated extraordinary faith inspite of the challenges they faced personally... Martin Luther King ‘had a dream...’ a vision of equality that seriously challenged the status quo and threatened the base of power, a dream he died for, and our very own Nelson Mandela who understood that 'courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it'. Of course, we can only aspire to being men of such remarkable faith however there are life lessons that Dr King and Madiba leave for us all to learn from.
These two visionaries possessed a solid, unshakeable faith in the belief that good will triumph over evil... that human kind was not created to hate, but to love, and it is in loving one another, that we fulfill our God given destiny. And in the face of violent opposition their profound commitment to a single vision of a unified country where dignity and equality is afforded to every citizen - they sought peace and love with the very people that hated and feared them.
Edmund Burke once stated that ‘evil abounds when good men do nothing’, being a bystander, simply looking the other way is all to easy - it takes a profound faith and courage to believe that good can and will triumph over evil and take action in accordance with your faith. How do we live as men of faith, men with the courage to bring about the changes our society needs?
Should we not seek out opportunities to courageously confront our fears, with the belief that we were made to love, and thus fulfill our God given destiny? We have to consider the legacy we leave for the next generation... as men we have the power to get involved and help raise a generation of men who are demonstrate the very values our country needs, men who refuse to allow evil to abound, men who have the courage to believe in love.
Only when we are courageous, can we truly love, and thus fulfill our God given destiny! Get involved and help us raise boys to be good men.
