I like that the FBI released some of the files they had on Sen. Ted Kennedy today. It allowed me to really look at the late Sen. Ted Kennedy as an example of resolve in the face of adversity.
When reading about the myriad of death threats he faced just for the fact that he was a Kennedy and was a liberal champion of civil rights, it made me really think about resolve and principles.
Here was a man, that despite the fates that befell his brothers Robert and John, despite the threats placed upon his life by groups fully capable of carrying out any number of horrendous plots...
Despite these challenges to his principles, he did not waver.
It reminds me of a book I read about a girl, Cassie Bernall, who died in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. According to eyewitness reports, when one of the shooters walked up to her and asked if "she believed in God" while pointing a gun in her face, she said yes, and for that, the shooter murdered her.
We may never face challenges so blatant and extreme as those of Cassie or Ted. But in the face of danger, in the face of adversity, what happens to your resolve to believe in those things you define as your principles?
If your faith is challenged, do you break?
If your sense of morality is confronted, do you waver?
Or like the late Ted Kennedy—when faced with the reality that his two brothers died during his life-time fighting for what they believed, and he was personally targeted for his belief in civil rights and healthcare for all, did he alter what he believed was right in the name of self-preservation?
It makes me evaluate the true motivation and dedication I carry for some of the things I write about, the things I speak about. It is easy to champion a cause among like-minded people. What am I doing to inspire thought and dialogue on what I believe amongst the truly apathetic or non-supportive? What am I doing in the community to champion what others do not support or provide what others do not care about?
What are you doing?