Be Brave, Maybelle*, Be Brave
Maybelle at age five was shy. Lydia at four was self-assured. One day their aunt came to visit. Maybelle would not leave her room. Lydia, sensing it was important for Maybelle to be social and visit with their aunt whispered, “Be brave, Maybelle, be brave.” (She actually said, “Be brabe, Maybelle, be brabe.”) I wonder what “brabe” means to a four-year-old. How did she even know the word? Had she heard Brené Brown define being brave as “soldiering on,” “showing up and being willing to try,” and “the courage to be vulnerable”? Had she read in scripture what Moses counseled his successor Joshua: “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid… for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Did she know about King David’s advice: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart” (Psalm 27:14). Had she been taught that Zoram (1 Nephi 4:35) and Zeezrom “took courage” (Alma...