The world is a narrow bridge, and the important thing is not to be afraid.
—Hebrew Prayer
Do you know what the most repeated phrase in the Bible is? It’s “Be not afraid.” Over and over again these words appear. They’re a warning from on high to “be strong and of good courage,” as we hear in the book of Joshua. “Do not be afraid nor be dismayed.”
A similar chord is struck in much of ancient Greek mythology. Some version of “Be brave,” “Have courage,” “Don’t be scared,” appears more than a dozen times in the Odyssey. It doesn’t matter which religion or philosophy or great mind you turn to, you will find courage in the same place the Stoics held it: at the top of the list of virtues.
It is impossible to be a good parent without having courage or cultivating courage in our kids. After all, it is the environment we create for them, the values we teach them, the rules we give them, and the bonds we forge with them that will give them the courage to do and be the things they were destined to accomplish and become.
Remember Barack Obama’s observation: What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child, but the courage to raise one. As fathers, we need to be involved in our children’s lives not just when it’s convenient or easy, and not just when they’re doing well—but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling. That is when they need us most.
None of this parenting stuff is easy. A lot of it is scary. But it is essential. And it matters whether you have the courage to step up and do it every day for the rest of their lives.