Courage

 April 12, 2023

The courage and boldness of many of the young adults I know is impressive! When I was a teenager, I was very timid about sharing my faith, afraid to be too vocal about going against the crowd. I was active in our church—worship, Sunday School, youth meetings, Youth for Christ, Christian Service Brigade—but at school, other than my not swearing, drinking, smoking, or seeing girls as sexual conquests, I pretty much kept my faith to myself.

In the early to mid-sixties, our culture was only beginning to cast loose from its Christian heritage. Christian values were honored, if not always kept, and being a member of a Christian church was almost always a requirement for political and social status.

So much has changed. Teachers can get themselves fired for refusing to parrot the party line on everything from gun control to the latest “woke” agenda. I’m seeing it up close and personal with the abortion debate. My granddaughter attended the Right to Life March in Washington DC last January, coming home fired up for the pro-life cause. Her mother being executive director of our local pro-life pregnancy center certainly didn’t detract from Eliza’s passion for life. On their way home, Eliza told her mother she wanted to start a pro-life club at school.

She did her research, secured a faculty advisor, and put up posters advertising their first meeting. They were promptly torn down by persons unknown. Eliza is unshaken. “I expected that,” was her only comment. She has been engaged in online conversations with pro-abortion people, armed with facts. The reactions she gets range from ridiculous to desperately emotional. She takes it all in stride.

This morning’s reading came from Matthew’s gospel:

““Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves…brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” —Matthew 10:16, 21-22 

Eliza has not yet experienced physical violence due to her convictions, but others have. It’s not surprising; if someone has no qualms about violently ending the life of the most vulnerable, it shouldn’t be surprising when they resort to violence against anyone who refuses to bend the knee to Molech. 

Pray for our kids. The world they inhabit is so much different than the one we faced as teenagers. They are courageous and determined; so is the Enemy of our souls. Our kids need our prayers and our support. Let’s not fail them!