What Do You Stand For?

Let me begin, in the spirit of the TV show Mission Impossible, “Should you choose to accept this mission, . . .”

To take on the name and role of Warrior for the Human Spirit is not an impossible mission. It’s just our turn. But it represents a serious departure from prior roles and identities. This new role requires unshakable faith and confidence in the human spirit. It would be good to contemplate why you’re considering it.

What in your past experiences has led you to want to be someone who protects and champions people? What have you personally observed and learned about people and our capabilities? Are people really worth struggling for?

The Bible describes faith as “the evidence of things unseen which are true.” As we read the headlines, watch the news, sit in meetings that turn ugly, witness aggressive behavior everywhere (including kids’ movies), our faith in human goodness can be challenged every day. Goodness can go unnoticed in this current environment, which is why we need faith that goes beyond appearances. But our faith is not unfounded. Daily we receive gifts of generosity that, if noticed, tune us into the deeper reality of who we humans also are. We can be provoked to aggression and hatred, and we can be moved to self-sacrifice and caring.

“Random acts of kindness” really aren’t so random—they’re reliable glimpses into our better human natures. Yet even with deep faith, it requires enormous courage to take a stand these days. It is impossible not to have a target placed on you when you champion a cause. In the pre-Internet days, leaders who stood up for people and new ways of operating were ignored, made fun of, or told to cease their efforts. If none of these attempts silenced them, the tactics switched to slander—the personhood of the leader became the target of attack. Now, everyone who takes a stand for something good receives far worse than slander: they can expect death threats and hate hurled at them through the Internet, and whole social media campaigns mobilized against them. If you’re lucky, you don’t become part of a conspiracy theory that twists your intentions into something diabolic.

In this current environment, it is faith that provides the deeper ground for our actions. We can expect to be misunderstood and victimized for our good efforts. If we’re lucky, we just get ignored, left to ourselves, below the radar. This is a real blessing—although it requires giving up any needs for approval and recognition. But if we do get on the radar, in this climate of careless fear mongering and hate, we have to be prepared for unjust and possibly insane reactions to our work.

Warriors for the Human Spirit are awake human beings who have chosen not to flee.

They abide.

A South African Warrior-in-Training