courage

I would like to talk about bravery.

It is brave to take a commandment given to a generation and apply it specifically, at great sacrifice, to your own life.
It is brave to save money for something your entire life and watch the years grow closer.
It is brave to stand in front of hundreds and say that such a decree is right; to follow the instructions given in one letter.
It is brave to turn from your crying mother as friends and leaders and family all disappear, and you walk into that strange place alone.
It is brave to risk failure or illness or breaking a rule to stigma and heartache.
It is brave to wear a label, setting you apart and marking you for the reaction of the world in its entirety. It is brave to wear your belief on your shirt pocket.
It is brave to give every thought, every minute, to service, and smile throughout.
It is brave to walk alone where you never have before, to consort only with strangers and share with them that which is sacred.
It is brave to give up your favorite things for God.

It is brave,
it is brave,
it is brave.

My brother is brave. Many of you are brave, brave for this thing which some of you have done or are doing or will do at some point in the future.

I don't know that I am that brave.