Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Courage and the Crocodile Pit

Courage and the Crocodile Pit

Last updated on: May 12, 2017 at 5:51 pm by Mary Pezzulo

Courage and the Crocodile Pit 2017-05-12T17:51:32-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

crocodile-174350_640

Is anyone else nervous lately?

I’ve been a little nervous lately.

Alternately angry and nervous, actually, if I’m going to be brutally honest, and angry that I’m nervous all the time, and angry at the people who make me nervous. I wrote a whole post about all the people who are making me nervous the other day, and deleted it. There’s really no point in going into them for the hundredth time.

I keep on trying to feel courageous and think about Sophie Scholl or Saint Demetrius, and quote encouraging things from The Lord of the The Rings, but then I realize I can’t remember if that quote is in the actual book or only the movie and then I think I’m going senile and get even more nervous.

Many people say you should pray the Rosary when you’re nervous, but honestly, for me, the Rosary is a nervous-making prayer. People who take comfort from it are fine people, but it just riles me up every time.

The Rosary makes me think of watching that cartoon about Fatima at my Granny’s house, and that other cartoon by the same company about Lourdes, and wondering at how truly evil and abusive badly drawn grown-ups can be to cute little girls who have visions of Mary while praying the Rosary. I resolved that if I ever had a vision of Mary while praying the Rosary, I wouldn’t tell anyone about it. I also privately thought that the Blessed Mother could have been a little more proactive about punishing the nasty grown-ups who were so cruel to the children, but I was afraid to admit that to my granny.

Granny also had a video by the same company about Saint Francis, who was also abused by his bellowing Henry VIII-lookalike of a father with no consequences for said father, but I liked that cartoon a better because there were knights in it. Besides, Francis eventually left home and didn’t speak to his father anymore. She had a video in the same series about Saint Patrick which I thought was stupid, because the druids were such buffoons, and one about Saint Nicholas which scared me because the Roman soldiers were so awful.

Later, my Granny gave me a fifth video from the same company, about Saint Francis Xavier. That one was my all-time favorite. Francis Xavier didn’t pray the Rosary or have scary visions at all in that video. And instead of being slapped around and tormented by mean grown-ups, druids or ancient Romans, he went to the jungle and befriended an indigenous child with a pet monkey. I’d always wanted to visit the jungle, and to have a pet monkey. Saint Francis Xavier got to put on a kimono and wave a crucifix at the Emperor of Japan, and I’d always wanted to wear a kimono and go to Japan. At the end of the cartoon, Saint Francis Xavier dove into a pit of aggressive hungry crocodiles and came out completely unscathed, clutching a black pearl he’d found– and before anyone asks me, I have no idea whatsoever if that’s an actual anecdote from the hagiography of Saint Francis Xavier. Maybe they made it up. But it was indisputably the most entertaining of the children’s hagiography cartoons. I decided that I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up. Missionaries had all the fun.

Say, there’s something we can all do for our nervousness. We can watch cartoons. Improving religious cartoons or just really silly cartoons. I like Bugs Bunny best, what about you?

What else can we do?

Of course, we can pray. We must pray without ceasing whether it calms us or not, but it’s nice when you can find a prayer that helps with the nervousness. Pray Rosary if you like it. I like Chotki and the Small Paraklesis, and Ignatian meditations, and painting icons.

We can be perfectly honest that there’s plenty to be nervous about, and turn our feelings to action if there’s any action we can take.

If you’re not a miserable hack like me who makes a living typing on one, you can turn off your computer for a designated amount of time every day so you won’t see more scary news. You can still be informed if you check in twice a day instead of constantly, in my experience.

We can stop trying to feel courageous, because courage isn’t an emotion. Courage is doing what is ours to do, whatever our emotions. Courage is doing what is ours to do whether or not we look heroic, whether can find a good Lord of the Rings quote or a comforting prayer. In my experience, courage doesn’t usually look heroic or exciting as jumping into a crocodile pit; it’s usually not the topic of children’s hagiography cartoons. It’s a matter of doing whatever is ours to do, every day, whether or not it hurts, whether or not the cause seems hopeless, whether we’re lauded or tortured for it, until we die.

Even when we’re terribly nervous.

If we all strive to do the will of God with courage, some of us will get slapped around by grown-ups and some of us will leave home. Some of us will be knights, some will be shepherds and some will be missionaries. Some will live lives marked by signs and wonders and some will look outwardly as though God never intervenes to help them against their enemies. Some will dive into pits filled with writhing crocodiles. Some will be seen to come out of the crocodile pit unscathed and some will die a martyr’s death down there, battling crocodiles until the end.

And in the end, whatever the outward appearance of our lives, we will all be brought home where our struggles will prove to have been worth it.

That thought doesn’t exactly make me feel fine. It doesn’t really make me less nervous. But it is a good thing.

(image via Pixabay)

Previous Post

May 11, 2017

Where Will The Poor Go?

Next Post

May 13, 2017 A Mother of One

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does James say shows someone their faith by?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Their worship Their deeds (works) Their knowledge Their words