Howard Thurman believed it is, as he wrote in his devotional classic Meditations of the Heart. He writes,
“It is a fearful admission that courage is required to see the true thing. So much of my vision is blurred by my fears, my anxieties, my narrow self-interests that I find difficulty sometimes in giving full range to a searching scrutiny. It may be that I suspect the effect on me of seeing things in their true light. Waiting in the quiet experience of worship I seek the courage, the push of God, to see the true thing in everything with which I am involved.” (pg. 166)
I have been struck by this thought and have really wrestled with it’s truth in life, leadership, and relationships. Can one’s capacity for discernment really in some part flow from one’s own level of personal courage or cowardice? My experience says that this is very much true, though I don’t believe courage is the only factor which shapes discernment.
I have often wondered why some people don’t see what seems obvious. There are times where I’ve wondered why I didn’t see what was obvious. I have believed for some time that fear, insecurity, and sometimes a lack of depth all can affect our level of discernment, our level of spiritual vision, our capacity to see the True. Yet I have never before considered this issue in light of a courage and cowardice paradigm. I have tended to assume that courage and cowardice were a later result of what one does with what they know. It’s a compelling question to consider whether one’s inner courage – the capacity to face the reality that is there – actually shapes the way in which we perceive reality.
This resonates with my last post on Thurman’s thoughts on “The Great Exposure” in that our ability to deal with pain – our reluctance to deal with pain, fears, and wounds – really shapes the degree to which we can fully engage life. The people who tend to avoid past, present, or future pain at all costs seem to be those that I find that lack the ability to discern, to see things as they truly are. And conversely those that have embraced “The Great Exposure” and have submitted to the vulnerability of this life and found comfort for it in authentic (true) community are the ones that demonstrate time and time again that they truly see.
It is too true that such cowardice – the fear or unwillingness to really see truth, to see things the way they truly are – lurks within all of us. While God has granted some with a level of prophetic courage, both to see and do the True beyond what most possess, I agree with Thurman that we must ALL seek God’s “push” in worship to see what truly is.
May we have the courage to see first, then have the courage to do.
