LAZY SUNDAY #64: COURAGE

There's this hymn...

I lost my brother a year ago and it was played at his funeral. It was played last Friday at the funerals for four fallen police officers in Oakland, California. It's played at every police funeral, every military funeral and the funerals of many in the Christian faith.

But it's not a funeral hymn.

"Amazing Grace" was written by John Newton, the Captain of a slave transport vessel who underwent a profound conversion and wanted to communicate his revelation to others. The song's power is in its ability to inspire those who have lost hope or feel overwhelmed by life's tragedies to have the courage to move on.

The last year has bordered on tragic for virtually everyone I know. They've lost close friends and family, jobs, homes, secure futures and their careers. A darkness seems to have descended on many that saps their energy and love of life.

A couple of nights ago, I reconnected with an old friend, someone who came up through the business with me but whom I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. We got talking about the current economic Armageddon and the trials and tribulations it and other issues wracking the film and television industries have forced us all to face.

Both he and I have been through tough times, struggled against apparently insurmountable odds and endured long nights without hope. We didn't always win the battles we fought, but in his opinion we hung on to one thing that got us through those losses, a thing that seems in short supply these days -- Courage.

Courage isn't the gallantry normally depicted in its name. It's both much bigger and much smaller than that. Courage is simply the willingness to confront fear, uncertainty and intimidation. It's not something you're born with. It's a skill you learn -- or maybe -- just begin to apply.

Courage is nothing more than "Doing the Right Thing" whatever that right thing is that needs to be done. It's confronting whatever you are facing and doing what will allow you to look at your face in the mirror when you shave the next morning, or what you want other people to say when they're describing you to your grandchildren.

Shit happens. Most often to people who don't deserve it, didn't go looking for it and had no hand in its creation. And when it happens to you, you need a reminder that life goes on and you weren't put on this planet to be defeated by this moment.

Be Inspired.

Find Courage.

And Enjoy your Sunday.


Il Divo - Amazing Grace / RUS from ILDIVORUS on Vimeo.