More on Valor

In his speech, entitled “Citizenship in a Republic”, delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt charges:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength. It is war-worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who “but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier.”

What is your worthy cause?
For what are you passionate?

Be in the arena! Stand, and make your presence known. If only you realize you’ve been given the ability to stand and find your voice after much pain and struggle, then you will make your mark and find your groove. In high school baseball, whenever I would begin to work my way out of a slump, coach would call out, “Good gosh, looks like Josh Baylor showed up today.” Lots of practice, hard work, mental control, and an eye for opportunity are nothing if you don’t show up. Reminds me of Jesus’ miracle moments. Rise, pick up your mat and walk. Go wash in the pool. Cast your nets on the other side. Go, your son will live. God gives to us our ability to act and to believe. We simply show up and prove his generosity and power and goodness. So, get up, step forward, and go in the power only he can provide. Jesus actually stood in the arena for us so that we might show up and display the glory of God, his grand love and unimaginable grace for undeserving people such as us. We may endure because he endured for us. We are valiant because Jesus is valiant. Sealed, won and done.

Show up!