‘Profiles in Courage’ in Georgia, Part II
Many times, things get so out of control and turn so very dark that we fail to look around to see some of the glorious things that are also taking place as well as the people who shine the light of courage, honor and integrity on the dark situations.
Georgia was made to shine this year, brighter than ever, because of some of our courageous personalities. We are honored to have a long list of individuals who make up our “Profiles in Courage” list.
All of these individuals were not the first to do what they did, or say what they said, and will not be the last. But due to the need to have our light shine brighter this year because of the heavy overcast of darkness, a more illuminating light was more necessary than ever. This series of essays highlights only a few of the courageous and brave citizens here in Georgia.
After rereading the Pulitzer Prizewinning book “Profiles in Courage,” a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity, I took a look around us and decided to examine Georgia’s list of people who have shown themselves honorable and courageous.
I examined some locals and did not have to look very far to find courageous individuals who, over a period of time, have been able to realize that the character of an individual is built by the individual himself. Reputation is what others think of a man or woman.
State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R
Rome, who is a member of the Georgia General Assembly representing the 52 District, has had to say to his fellowmen: Let us move forward because we lost this election and Joe Biden has won, and I cannot buy into the Big Lie. Sen. Chuck Hufstetler should be on that long list of profiles in courage, as well as Wendy Davis.
For many years, I have personally witnessed Wendy Davis speaking truth to power courageously, knowing that to do so was not the popular step to take. But she did it anyway and lost the support of “friends” by doing so. Helping the underdog by speaking truth to power is not always the easiest step to take if one is living for friendship.
These two locals had to speak that truth in 2020, as we walked around stumbling in the darkest period of our history, and unfortunately we are still groping around in the dark, stumbling over each other.
Many people say that it should not take much to speak truth to power if one is taught Christian principles as a foundation for living. That is true if one has a moral compass based on those principles, with the main one being “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul, and love thy neighbor as thyself.”
I remember when one of the aforementioned individuals was in one of my classes. We read “Hamlet” and met a character by the name of Polonius who gave his son advice as he was leaving home for the first time. He gave him healthy living advice to use when he arrived in Paris.
Polonius said to his son, Laertes: I know you feel that you must go, and I will not try to convince you to stay home; therefore, out of all the wisdom that I have tried to share with you, I beg you to remember this one piece. “To thine own self be true and it shall follow, as night the day, that thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Many profiles in courage, decency and integrity are backstage waiting to come on the scene because they were sent to “Paris” with words of wisdom from a Polonius type of upbringing. They came from a family structure held together with the glue of words expressing the poet John Milton’s belief that “All men were born free and equal. No man who knows ought, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were borne free, being the image and resemblance of God himself”
Most courageous Americans who believe in the Constitution have a foundation on which to stand and it is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
These are the truths that one must stand on in order to be a profile in courage.