day no. 14,991: fear is conquered by bits

"The public sees only the thrill of the accomplished trick; they have no conception of the tortuous preliminary self-training that was necessary to conquer fear." -- Harry Houdini

We remember the martyrs for being martyred, but we forget that the glorious moment of spectacular faith and faithfulness was back-filled with unglamorous, daily, difficult faith and faithfulness. We see the faithful tied to stakes and bearing it well, but we fail to see the long days of being faithful while being overlooked. We miss the miserable work completed without complaining. We fail to consider the broken nails, bruised arms, battered egos, bitten lips, swallowed tongues, etc... that made them the kind of person who endured such exquisite difficulty so elegantly. Behind the thrill of the trick is the thrashing of overlooked, faithful drudgery. The daily grind did not turn these martyrs into powder or ash. It sharpened them for the day their sword would be fashioned in fire. And after having been heated and beaten, battered and boiled down, they are left pure and sharp. 

But this does not just happen. Onlookers only see the completed feat before them. The martyr sees the years of practice behind them. Fear was not conquered merely at the moment of climax, but over the years bit by bit, in whatever climate it came.