Heidi, age 15
Courage is a journey, not a moment. Some people call it the Hero’s Journey. The reason I am writing this paper for your age group is because you are on a journey of your own, and you will need courage to help you through it. Not to say that you don’t have very much courage, but because how you live these next few years define the rest of your life.
The man I am going to write about is someone to which everyone in America is indebted. His name is the Marquis de Lafayette. He was born and raised in France to an aristocratic family. He became an orphan when he was only twelve, joined the French army at fourteen, and saved the American revolution at nineteen. Courage filled his life. I will try to illustrate his journey for you because it is one of determination, truth, and most of all, courage.
First is the decision. Nobody goes on a Hero’s Journey without choosing it first. Most people made that first decision in heaven. At some point (I’m not sure when) Lafayette was inspired by America. He was able to discern that she was mostly a good and moral country that was fighting for rights and freedom. Now I’m sure plenty of other people, especially in France, recognized this too, and quite a few of them had the means to help but didn’t. I’m not saying those people are wrong for not helping, just that something made Lafayette different from those people. I think the difference was his courage. He saw a seed of something in America that he could not just ignore, and he realized that it was worth putting everything else on the line. This is courage. He decided to go on this Hero’s Journey.
That was only the first decision though. He would be making decisions throughout the entire journey, mostly decisions of not backing down when doubt and fear won him out. There were other decisions he was making too, decisions of how he would go about this journey. He chose to be respectful, honorable, faithful, virtuous, truthful, tolerant. These qualities are also something that sets great people apart.
Next is the hardest part, acting on his decisions with determination. Lafayette went to America. He acted. Once Lafayette got there, Washington made him his personal aide. The two bonded immediately. Lafayette fought his first battle at a place called Brandywine Creek. One day in September 1777, William Howe, General of the British, was going to attack this creek and try to reach Philadelphia. Washington, Lafayette and a host of American soldiers were there to stop him. The battle went poorly. Howe surprised the Americans by traveling farther up the creek to cross, then attacking at their right flank. The American soldiers panicked. Lafayette tried to rally the troops to make another attack, but the British pushed them back. He was making an organized retreat when he was shot through the leg. Even still, Lafayette wouldn’t accept medical help until all of his men had made the retreat. In this moment he didn’t have time to think, he just did. His determination kept him going.
What is determination? Determination is the doing part of courage. It is having courage consistently. Someone can be inspired at one time or another, and that inspiration can lead them for a little while. Eventually though, they stop feeling courage, or love, or happiness. Everyone has these moments while on their Hero’s Journey. I’m sure Lafayette had plenty. This is when determination is needed. Courage is a feeling; determination is a mindset. Fighting is hard, even harder still when we don’t feel like it. Keep going.
The last part of the Hero’s Journey is the most exciting. Not many reach it, but those who do, like Lafayette, become the really great people in the world. This is after they’ve made it through the hardest part of the Hero’s Journey. For example, when you’re studying and studying and you don’t feel like you are learning anything, then suddenly things just start to click or when you crawl and slip but still keep going, and finally build up that strength to run. This is when you are changed and then discover the whole breadth and depth of what you have just changed into.
After the Battle of Brandywine, Lafayette spent two months in recuperation, then was given a command of soldiers. During the next two years, he led his own command of 350 men against 400 Hessians, leaving them scattered, got the Oneida Indian tribe to join the war on the side of the Americans, stopped a possible conflict between a group of American civilians and some French soldiers, and inspired America and France to embrace the cause of freedom and liberty. He worked and fought and tried, and I think at first he didn’t feel like he was doing very much for the cause. He kept going anyway. Because of this, he was rewarded.
The Hero’s Journey is long, hard, and tedious at times. In the pre-earth life, we each made the decision to come to earth and become heroes of one kind or another. Because we don’t remember making that decision, we have to make that decision again in this life. We don’t just decide once, but over and over again, because life is made up of many Hero Journeys, all tied up into one big Hero’s Journey. If we have the courage to do this, we will be rewarded. The Savior made sure of that.