Do you have any pet peeves? Things that pick at you like popcorn caught in your teeth? One of my met peeves is personality tests. I have taken at least 5 different types of personality tests, and every time, the response is the same: for the color test, I'm tested "White," I'm peace loving. "Now for those who are white, remember that you can still stand up for yourselves." Animal test: Golden Retriever, loyal. "Now, for those who are Golden Retrievers, remember that you can still stand up for yourselves." Introvert, shy. "Now, for those of you who are introverts, remember that you can still stand up for yourselves." Instead of "Golden Retriever" I should have been "Camel," because I can be very contrary. So when I have all these tests telling me that I don't like sharing my opinion, or that I enjoy going
along with what everyone else says, I'll fight against that. It
probably turned out to be a good thing, but it was still annoying.
This pet peeve of mine could be called a 1st-World Problem.
But I believe that on a bigger level, it's a universal problem. Not my
irritability whenever a new personality test is brought forth, but
rather, the problem of people not standing up for themselves.
While it's perfectly fine to not care which game you play or what your going to do that night, it's not acceptable to be wishy-washy when your taking a stand about principles, family, or religion.
We face a lot of pressure today: with gay marriage, bad music, taking prayers out of schools, and pressure to take drugs, smoke, or drink-- it's hard.
There's
a song that goes, "I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything."
Another song, by Fun, talks about this man giving in to all the wrong
things, and how terrible his life is, and the refrains goes like this:
"What do I stand for? What do I stand for?"
I
believe there are three basic things that everyone should stand for, no
matter what race, religion, or background they may have. As the
personality test coordinators stressed to me, You need to stand up for
yourself! If you're just going along with what everyone says, how can
you stand up for anything? Along with that, you need to stand up for
other people. That is the basic first thing you need to stand up for-- other people, including yourself.
You
should stand up for your country, and your freedom. As people today
just 'go with the flow' on elections, our country is falling apart. Love
of their country and freedom is a driving factor in almost all
revolutions. Many soldiers show that love through the sacrifice of their lives.
Finally, you need to stand up for your beliefs, what makes you you. Your religion, or you morals, should help to guide you in different situations, when you're deciding whether or not to take a stand.
Once
upon a time, there peasant girl who, during each of the three stages of
her life, exemplified each of these aspect of standing firm in one form
or another.
This girl was born in Domremy, a small village in English-occupied France. She grew up learning how to knit, sew, tend sheep, and cook meals
just like any other farm girl. But unlike other farm girls, she had a
light in her eyes, a fire in her heart, and a foundation that she was
standing on. This girl's name was Joan of Arc.
One night, when she was still young, a fierce blizzard was raging outside her parent's small hut. Suddenly,
a stranger burst in. He was a poor man, and had a sad, hungry look on
his face. As Joan was about to offer him her bowl of porridge, her
father stopped her. "You must not feed that man," he told her. "He is a
mischief-maker who will only cause trouble." Joan argued back, "Well
father, if his hands caused trouble, should his stomach suffer for it?" A
neighbor who had been visiting took up the argument from there, and
eventually persuaded Jacques (Joan's father) to relent, and let Joan
share her porridge. When she was given permission to share with the stranger, Joan blushed, and responded that she had already given the stranger her bowl, and that he was fast asleep by the fire.
Later in her life, Joan had a much different example of helping others.
In the village of Domremy,
a mad-man was kept locked up in a cage. One day, as Joan was walking
with her friends, someone came running, screaming out at them that the
mad-man had broken lose, and was terrorizing the village. As the friends
hurried along, they heard a crashing in the bushes behind them, and out
came the madman, with an ax raised above his head. Most of the youth
fled in panic, but Joan did not. Instead, she walked firmly up to the
madman, and held out her hand for the ax. For a brief moment, the madman
held the ax above her small figure, but then, the surprise of all watching, he smiled, handed Joan the ax, and was
lead docilely along back to his cage. When her friends caught up with
her they naturally reprimanded her for her bold behavior. Joan explained
to them that she would have been reckless if she had not made friends
with the madman before that day, by feeding him, and talking to him
outside his cage, and tending his wounds when the village boys threw rocks at him.
Joan showed throughout her early life that she could and would stand up for people-- for the poor strangers, for her attacked friends, and for the abused madman.
When
she was 13, Joan was visited by Voices. It is disputed whether or not
the voices were in fact physical, or simply in Joan's head, and you are
free to believe what you will about that. I personally feel that she was
led by the Holy Spirit, and that God knew the best way to reach her.
These voices revealed to Joan that she was responsible for raising the siege of Orleans
and crowning the Dauphin. Joan undertook her charge at once. When she
was 16, Joan was instructed to begin her mission by visiting Robert de Baudricourt, requesting an armed escort to the Dauphin at Chinon. At first, she sent back home with insults and shame. But after
more than a year, her request was granted, and through many more
trials, Joan of Arc finally had a private conference with the Dauphin In which he was convinced about her mission. Weeks after this conference, the Charles the Dauphin named Joan the commander in chief of the French Armies.
As she was fighting to regain a French fort (either Jargau or Patay)
Joan was struck in the arm with a arrow. She fainted, and fell of her
horse. When the soldiers couldn’t see her, they began to be fearful as
they had been so often before. They started to retreat. When she came to
herself, someone had taken the arrow out of her arm. Joan lept
back onto her horse, and raced forwards, regardless of the fleeing host
around her. When her friends and the generals saw her going to fight,
they followed her to bring her back. But their forward motion drew the
attention of the army, who, when they saw Joan back up and fighting,
gained strength of heart once more, and went back to take the victory.
Throughout
this time of war and triumph, Joan shows everyone she meets that she is
there to honor King Charles, and that she believes in France as it can
be. To many people, she was
France, personified to them. She showed them the remarkable strength
and power that came from patriotism, and standing by your country.
After many victories, she led the Dauphin to Reims, where he was crowned, and her mission was completed.
After
her many services, she wished to go home, but that was not to be. King
Charles wanted her to go on leading the armies, and so she did. During
an unexpected skirmish, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians.
The Burgundians
were the French who had sided with the English. They held Joan prisoner
for almost a year to hear from King Charles, even though the English
offered to buy her straight off. The Burgundians were waiting for the French to make their offer.
And
this is where the depth of King Charles’s weakness shows itself. King
Charles was as wishy-washy as Joan was firm. Throughout her relationship
with him, she was always trying to convince him, and to get him to hold
an opinion for more than a day. Without her there to try to push him
into taking a stand, he didn’t know how. King Charles never offered anything
to save Joan of Arc. When she had plunged into battle to save France
for him, and when she fought her way to Reims so he could be crowned, he
promised her anything. But now, when she really needed something, he
remained silent.
For
me, this weakness puts him lower than the low. I think more of Hitler
than I think of this King Charles. Because Hitler fought for something,
although it was a very terrible, sick, and wrong something. King
Charles, however, sat on his behind, and watched his Commander-in-Chief,
the Savior of France, be sold to the English.
The reason we know so much about Joan of Arc, is because of her trial in Rouen, which was headed by Pierre Cauchon,
the bishop of that city. The trial lasted for two months, during which
time Joan was badgered, lied to, heard her words twisted, and was even
threatened with torture. Once, a lawyer dressed up as a priest, and went
to Joan for her confession, and then used her confession against her in
the trial.
As
the trial opened, they tried to make her swear an oath to answer them
truthfully on everything. Joan refused, telling them that she was
forbidden to reveal certain things, but that she would answer them
truthfully in everything she could. They eventually agreed to accept
that oath, but had used up all of their time, so they adjourned until
the next day. The next day they gave her the same oath that she had
refused the previous day, and ordered her to swear to it. They repeated
this over and over again, sporadically throughout the trial, but each
time, she stood her ground, and would not answer those questions that
she’d been forbidden to answer.
Finally,
a month later, after she had been deprived of sleep, of light, of fresh
air, and of friendly company, she was convicted and taken to the stake.
At the sight of it, she shrank, and for a moment, she lost her footing.
She recanted everything she’d said. She’d been promised that if she did
so, she’d be set free, or at least allowed a cell above ground, and
some women for company.
However,
these promises were not fulfilled, even though the English had gotten
what they wanted. A few days later, in her dark cell, Joan
recanted her recantation. She knew she’d done wrong, and that she’d
stumbled. But she was on her foundation again, and she would not step
down. On May 30th,
1431, Joan was led out of the prison to a cart, and driven to the
stake. On her way there, a man ran up to her—the man who’d disguised
himself as a priest and lied to her. Weeping, he begged her forgiveness.
And Joan forgave him. On her way to her death that he had helped to
plan, she forgave him.
Then they arrived at the square. There, Joan was tied to the stake, and burned.
Throughout her short life, Joan had stood tall. She had kept her fire in her heart, and had kept her feet on firm ground.
We can keep our own fire in our hearts. Though the world may reach to drag us down, we can climb higher.
Remember the words of Robert Service’s poem:
Carry on! Carry on!---Fight the good fight and true;
Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;
There’s big work to do, and that’s why you are here.
Carry on! Carry on!--- Let the world be the better for you;
And at last when you die, let this be your cry!
Carry on, my soul! Carry on
