What is courage?
How to face people who suspect you of the ultimate evil.
The Fulcrum of Courage, Part 1
Humans have the unusual ability to wear beliefs as camouflage.
Like the black and white stripes on zebras, our beliefs may contrast with nature, but they also enable us to blend in with our own kind.
To show that you are like-minded is to be safe from predators.
At least, most of the time.
Is it any wonder public speaking is more terrifying than sickness or death?
With the eyes of a crowd upon you, your mind can go blank. You risk judgement, ridicule, and humiliation.
Unless you can win over groups of people, if you stand up or stand out, a crowd is not a sanctuary.
In the year 999, millions of Christians made pilgrimages. Clerics predicted the Apocalypse would begin at the turn of the Millennium.
They believed that unless God intervened on behalf of the faithful, the conclusion to a 6000 year-old all-encompassing battle between good and evil would unfurl.
Certain events, like the Norman conquest of Southern Italy, seemed to confirm it would begin shortly after New Year’s Eve mass, before dawn, on January 1, 1000. Normans rode white horses, wore crowns, and were archers – like the first horseman of the Apocalypse. Clerics thought it was a sign from God.
The Almighty, they believed, was telling the faithful to prepare.
When Pope George V died mysteriously in February of 999, the Vatican suspected foul play and most people were sure it was the Devil.
The citizens and slaves of Rome took up a daily practice of ritual purification, and it rapidly spread throughout Christendom. For the next 10 ½ months, Christians wore nothing but sackcloth and bathed in ash as penance - hoping to convince God to change the course of history.
Throughout that year emotions ran high and hostilities broke out, further confirming the clerics’ predictions.
As the year ended, riots erupted across Europe and around the Mediterranean.
In Rome, 60,000 people gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica to pray for salvation.
Tens of thousands more surrounded the Vatican in a massive throng that filled every street and spilled into the countryside.
That evening, rumors circulated about the new pope having sex with a demon. They proved he was in league with the Devil, and had damned everyone in a game of dice.
There in body and spirit, facing the ashen crowd, stood Gerbert of Aurillac.
Mathematician. Scientist. Humanist.
The new pope.
Next: Where does courage begin? How to know when an endeavor is worthy.
Good project