Making of a Brave Man
/What makes a brave man? Am I brave? Are you Brave? Who decides if a man is brave or not? I ask this question because I recently rewatched the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. This movie is really impactful to me. It speaks to me. It tells us that we have to be present always. If we are not, “Life” will pass us by.
Does being present make us brave? I believe it does. When we are present, we live life fully. We don’t wish our lives away. We grab life and tell it what we are going to do at that very moment. But there is more to being present than just being physically present.
In the movie, “Walter” spaces out quite a bit before he embarks on an adventure of trying to find a single person in the entire world. Talk about finding a needle in a haystack. I believe that “Walter” has to take a step at a time to find his bravery. It is a lot like what Heavenly Father talks to us about in the scriptures. We will learn the truth about Him precept upon precept. Isaiah 28:9-10 talks about this.
“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” — Isaiah 28:9-10 KJV
What does that mean? I believe it means that every time we take a step toward Heavenly Father in Faith (Trust that He wants the best for us) He gives us another step and then another toward learning His true identity. When we learn His true identity, we learn our true identity.
“Walter” found his true identity when he continued to take leaps of faith and continued to take steps towards it. He had to jump into a helicopter that was lifting off the ground. Then, he had to jump into the ocean and fight off a shark. The list goes on and on. It speaks directly to the curiosity and courageous parts of our subconscious that craves adventure with God. We want to matter.
We find meaning in life when we do what God created us to do. That requires us to be present, and take little leaps (sometimes outrageously gigantic leaps) with God. He will not leave us alone. He wants to be on this adventure with us. He craves that connection. So, will we heed the call and allow our Heavenly Dad to make us brave?
What now? Be present. Pray to God to ask to see others as He sees them. Think of some big audacious goal you’ve been putting off and commit now to start on it this week!
By CT, Writing Team