Affliction is the good man’s shining time.
–Abigail Adams, quoted in 1776 by David McCullough
The heart is a bloom. It shoots up through the stony ground.
–Bono, U2
I recall having a deep discussion with two of my children a few years ago about a concept we do not hear much of today– being “stout-hearted.” If you read much Christian literature from the Reformation period, you’ll find references to someone being “stout-hearted.” In our family discussion, my son was apt to think stoutness of heart to be a physical quality or a set of skills or abilities one possesses. But stoutness of heart was and is much more. It was more than mere courage and ambition, though both of these admirable qualities are under its umbrella.
Stoutness of heart is a quality of character involving an unshakeable resolve to pursue what is right, regardless of the hardships involved. The determination to pursue what is good and right even when no one is looking. The ambition to pursue what is just and honest even when others snicker and jeer. The love for what is noble even when those around you compromise or pursue other ends. Notice, such depth of character involves more than a mere cold adherence to duty. Doing what is good and right, truth-telling, and honoring God and others will grow over time in my life and endure through a heart celebration, not through duty alone. In this way, stoutness of heart is a groomed quality, built over time, not simply a skill or talent genetically inherited.
How do we develop stoutness of heart? How do we groom it into our families? First, I believe it involves loving the truth in our own hearts. Looking for moments to celebrate on a daily basis the truths that would guide us through life. For me, memorizing Scripture and reviewing key truths regularly, savoring them, raising my heart’s esteem for what is right amidst all that is wrong in the world around me is crucial.
Second, stoutness of heart grows over time through clinging to precious truths amidst adversity. Nothing great will be accomplished without the determined pursuit of truth amidst opposition, apathy, physical difficulty, and emotional challenge. Not that we should ever invent hardships, as life will bring a full stock of them to our lives without our trying! Yet, we should not avoid hardship either.
A lesson in stout heartedness is evident in the American Revolution. The Continental Army led by General George Washington was in many ways a rag-tag group of misfits by the military standards of the day. A group of artisans, blacksmiths, coopers, tailors, and farmers, untrained and lacking military talent, they faced the most highly-organized and disciplines army in the world– the British Army. In fact, the first four battles of 1776 were disastrous, resulting in many questioning the leadership abilities of General Washington. By war’s end in 1783, about 25,000 Americans had died, which amounted to about one percent of the fledgling country’s population. Further, the troops were ravaged by illness; small pox ran like wildfire among the American ranks. So, how did the colonists win the war? What the Americans lacked in military discipline and training, they made up for in dogged pursuit of their ideals amidst hardship. As historian David McCullough writes…
It was an army of men accustomed to hard work… They were familiar with adversity and making do in a harsh climate. Resourceful, handy with tools, they could drive a yoke of oxen or ‘hove up’ a stump or tie a proper knot as readily as butcher a hog or mend a pair of shoes. They knew from experience, most of them, the hardships and setbacks of life. Preparing for the worst was second nature. Rare was the man who had never seen someone die. …Many were missing teeth or fingers, pitted by smallpox or scarred by past wars or the all-too-common hazards of life and toil in the eighteenth century.
–David McCullough, 1776, p. 34
Such stoutness of heart is not forged overnight. It is built gradually, through the daily, weekly, monthly building into my life of what is not just urgent, but crucial. The clinging to what is good and right will not always scream out for immediate attention. In fact, such truths are often subtle, easily overlooked. Here is encouragement today to distill in life what is precious and true and hold it passionately in the face of adversity. Here’s to being stout of heart…
