It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he

“It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.” Thus spoke Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pastor and martyr who lived in an age when evil sought to silence truth. In these words, he teaches that true strength lies not merely in endurance, nor in brute force, but in the moral power to set the terms of destiny—to call forth the great questions of life and to decide them with clarity and courage. The weak, by contrast, drift upon the currents of circumstance, accepting choices others have placed before them, never shaping their own path.

The ancients knew this well. In their histories, the great lawgivers—Moses, Lycurgus, Solon—did not wait for others to hand them decisions. They confronted the crises of their people head-on, declaring, “This is the issue,” and then chose the path that would shape generations. The strong man does not merely choose between presented options; he creates new paths. The weak man, lacking vision or will, becomes a prisoner of the choices made by others.

Consider Bonhoeffer himself. In Nazi Germany, when countless men looked away, when many allowed the tyranny of Hitler to define the issues of the age, Bonhoeffer chose differently. He named the momentous issue—whether the church would remain silent before evil or rise against it. And he chose with strength, joining the resistance, even at the cost of his life. His decision was not one handed to him; it was one he himself brought forth, and in doing so, he revealed the true nature of moral strength.

So too in the life of Abraham Lincoln. The nation was fractured, and many politicians sought compromise upon compromise, forced into narrow choices crafted by others. But Lincoln brought forth the issue clearly: the survival of the Union and the question of slavery’s end. He chose with strength, not waiting for others to define the terms, but setting them himself. The Emancipation Proclamation was not forced upon him—it was his own decision, born of vision, courage, and an unwavering sense of justice.

O children of tomorrow, know this: to be strong is not merely to bear hardship, but to define your path. If you do not name the questions of your life, others will name them for you, and you will be forced to choose between roads you did not carve. Strength means clarity—it means lifting the great issues of your time into the light and deciding them for yourself. Weakness is surrender, the passive drifting between alternatives that are not your own.

The lesson is plain: do not wait for life to hand you choices—bring forth your own. Practically, let each person do this: reflect upon your life and ask, “What are the momentous issues I must face? What truths must I stand for?” Then decide with courage, even if your choice sets you against the crowd. Strength is not in pleasing others but in choosing rightly, in shaping destiny rather than merely reacting to it.

Thus remember Bonhoeffer’s words: “The excellence of the strong man is to bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them.” Let them be your guide. For the weak may drift and waver, but the strong will decide and act. And though the strong may suffer, even fall, their decisions carve the future. The weak leave no mark, but the strong leave legacies that echo through the ages.