Great Battles; Great Courage

I am sitting watching the great final battle scene of Lord of the Rings; Return of the King and am thinking of mankind. No we never had monsters to battle of this sort, but mighty battles there have been in human history.

I am not debating the right or the wrong of them, simply the courage of men.

Have you ever thought how we came to be here? How many great battles have been fought. How many times have courageous men and women, filled with unmeasurable fear and terror, pushed that fear down inside themselves and pressed on?

We, the people of the United States of America stand "free" (as free as we allow ourselves to be) on the shoulders of those who fought and died in just such battles as these?

I really marvel at how we are made, the courage we have been built with. Not many of us will be called upon these days (at least those of us blessed to live in civilized countries) to have such courage.

Or will we?

How many single women out there battle fear each day as you step out into the world to make a living? We are after all built to be taken care of...yet we press on. We find ways to save money, buy little farms, or even just keep a job and pay the rent! Add to that the courage to attempt to raise a garden or a few chickens.....or if only to raise a few veggies in pots on the terrace.

What of the single mother of a disabled child who has found that she has cancer and wonders what of her child should she succomb?

How many men face the deep fears as they battle the corporate world so that their family can live in relative comfort? What fear they feel battling to keep their jobs so their loved ones at home do not have to live in fear?

What courage it must take, for those who are elderly and alone just to get up each day and wonder if anyone even remembers they are alive. Or to lay their heads down at night after their loved ones forgot to call them....and still praying for their well being and safety.

Please God don't ever let me forget.