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Selected for Courage Courage . . . because God is faithful Last fall, my brother, like so many in this season, got a puppy. Nala is smarter than any dog has a right to be, and is already unfailingly devoted to him. The breeder, who supplies dogs for the K9 unit of police services, explained that she selects for courage in her breeding program; running a series of behavioural tests upon each new puppy; looking to continue the next generation of dogs by Morgan Wolf Morgan is a writer from Calgary. She blogs about her faith and writing at anothergratuitousmdash.blogspot. ca. Morgan has just published her book, Altruism in Gophers. 12 live • September - October 2021
with the most fearless individuals. While a family pet might be able to cower under the dining room table during a thunderstorm, a working police dog can’t shrink back at a critical moment. Selecting for courage is an interesting idea. It seems to be a forgotten virtue these days even though we’ve lionized the likes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Joan of Arc who stood up to terrifying foes and paid for their courageous convictions with their lives. Our culture tells the tales of the personal courage it takes to overcome overwhelming odds: Frodo leaves the comfort of Bag End. Aslan sacrifices himself upon
the stone table. Without courage, Joan of Arc wouldn’t have carried her banner into battle. Bonhoeffer wouldn’t have tried to kill Hitler. And, most critically, Jesus wouldn’t have set His face like flint to go to Jerusalem to endure the cross, either. So what engenders courage? It’s a question we’d do well to ask ourselves since we aren’t running behavioural tests on our newborns. “Courage is not just one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.” ~ C.S Lewis Fear, and its attendant uncertainty, is a litmus test revealing where we have placed our faith. It is in the storm of known and
