Dear Editor:

Winning a battle takes courage, compassion, and strength of mind without fear. This is true whether it is a battle of health, fighting your kid brother, at war, passing a test, or in sports. It is always possible to win without war — the French in Paris won because they had courage, compassion, and strength of mind without fear.

Courage means fear is shoved aside so our mind remains on the high road in order to develop the best probable outcome. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” If fear takes over as an unreasoned, unjustified terror that paralyzes our mind and prevents us from solving problems before they infest our every thought, what have we won?

Latifa Ibn Ziaten, mother of Imad, a son and 30-year-old off-duty paratrooper who bravely refused to lie down and was killed by a self-style jihadist, Mohamed Merah. “I’m Imad’s mom. Merah is no martyr. He's no hero. He’s an assassin.” Latifa realized she had to get the other side of the story out — hers and that of the wide majority of immigrants and French-born Muslims who make it in France, live in peace and serve their country, like her own son did. That’s courage we need for our future.

Compassion, while often felt, can rarely be seen in action. Occasionally we hear of a good Samaritan whose compassion leads him to invite some homeless families to spend Christmas day in a warm hotel. Three hours before check-in the management, operating without compassion, paralyzed by fear, cancelled the reservation for a homeless mother and two boys, and two homeless men. Within a short time, Christiana Hilton offered 10 rooms to the homeless with courage, compassion and strength of mind to put paralyzing fear aside for a better outcome for all parties.

Jarryl Larson

Edgecomb