Pain? Sure. Hardship? Yes. Poverty? OK. Hard work? Count me in. Death? That one is very hard, but yes.

Public humiliation? Uh, maybe not.

Honor, duty.

We value these things highly. Civil War commanders sent rows of young men to near certain death with the words “What will your family think of you if you run?!”

Speech teachers know that fear of speaking in public rates higher for many than the fear of death. Which leads me to conclude that some people would rather die than speak in public! Of course, the root of that fear is the possibility of embarrassing yourself before a crowd of people. This is one of the reasons that the Christmas story is so noble in the sacrifice of the main characters. …

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