Courage
A mother and her young son were walking through the woods. The little boy was talking about a book he had been reading in school which contained the word, "courage." "What is courage?" he asked his mother. "Is it like what Mimi our cat has when she sees a dog and lays her ears back and spits, even though the dog is ten times bigger than her?" The mother considered for a minute. "It's partly that," she said,"but it's much more than just that." They walked on a little way, and came to a place where the woods had been burned. The forest floor was black and barren. There, in the middle of the charred wood and burned rubble was a yellow buttercup thrusting itself up through the blackness. The mother pointed to the flower, "That's more like it," she said. "That's courage!"


What does it take? What do we have?
 I have been thinking lately about things. With memories surfacing and the pain and anguish they cause! Sometimes the pain just seems to eat away at me and I feel like I just wont survive! I have been reading some things to, The Courage to Heal for example. We all go through these things we all remember bad things we all to some extent talk about them. I have noticed that many of us, well most of us, seem to focus on what it is we have lost! And we have lost a lot. We have lost our childhood, our virginity, the essence of who we may have become. We have lost the ability to love and to trust. We have lost our innocence and care free days. We have lost the happiness that is ours as children and later in adulthood. We have lost our feelings and security. Many of us have lost families and friends, jobs and careers. At times we feel we have lost our souls. We have lost the ability to have normal healthy relationships. All of these and so much more we have lost, had it stolen from our very beings. Whilst I was/am feeling the deep pain of remembering and feeling like tomorrow might never come I asked myself "Isn’t there something good" Isn’t there something I haven’t lost?" I needed to know or to find something to cling to - to help me through the pain. Then it dawned on me, I have courage. Yep that’s right courage! We all have it. It is what has made us be able to say we are survivors instead of statistics! Nobody can take our courage away! No one has yet. The only one who can do that is ourselves. But what I have found is that we each have chosen to have and use courage. You may ask yourself but where is my courage I don’t feel courageous I feel like I want to die right now. Courage can be a feeling but I think often it is an act, as is love. We must chose to have courage and each of us is a living example of the fact that we have courage. For each and every day, hour, minute even second that we are alive we are choosing to have courage. It is our courage that made us survive, it is our courage that made us be creative, to find a way to survive and it is our courage that makes us keep going. At time our courage seems to be ebbed out. We don’t feel we can go on but somewhere deep inside we still are choosing to have courage even when we don’t FEEL courageous. When we think our courage is fading fast we must look inside to where we keep our courage. It is at times like this we need to know where our courage comes from. It does come from somewhere. We must find out for ourselves where we get it from, what powers it. Each person has an inner strength, a gall to choose courage to choose life. Some may find they believe in God, others Jesus Christ, still others believe in other forms of religion. Some will find their strength in the nature of the universe, some will find strength in the power of creation. Whatever we choose to call it - it is ours and ours alone. My belief is mine and suits solely myself. Yours is yours. Each day or night or when we think we cant make it we must seek to lean on our source of strength we must continue to chose courage we must know that our inside power is as steady as the rock of Gibraltar even steadier. Look up at the stars and moon and the sun and take refuge in the fact each and every day they awake and rise in the sky. Know that as you choose courage you to will awake and rise and face life’s challenges each and everyday. I was watching the movie Courage under Fire, and what rang true to me was that even when people were lying and deceiving and not believing the woman acted appropriately in the situation, what never changed was that she was courageous. The truth was she was courageous under fire. She chose to ignore her fears and chose to be courageous. Being courageous doesn’t mean you are not afraid or don’t show other emotions or cry maybe, it means choosing to defy, to challenge, to endure danger and suffering, to be bold! We want happiness and we want healing. What path do we follow to achieve this? Is it the way that reaps momentary pleasure? Is it the way that seems easiest or fastest? I think not. The path to peace and health and inner contentment is one that is hard and dangerous and obscure to the naked eye. I have been thinking that the path is one that will bring pain and it will seem like it is the wrong way to go. It will take me to choose courage to follow it. I think there are three things that are along this path, the first is: Confusion when we look honestly at life and the world there will be confusion. We need to have the courage to face the truth to be honest even as it is confusing. Confusion should not lead to bitterness but to faith, a faith that is stronger and more resilient than usual, that will sustain us when we are feeling weak. The second is: Disappointment This can paralyze us. It is what can keep us from getting close to other people. When we were previously hurt or treated badly, when the kids are living dangerously close to disaster, when churches or organizations let us down. It is what can stop us from developing close intimate relationships, opting for a more comfortable distance. But disappointment can lead us, no drive us, to hope. The hope of a better life, a hope of joy and for some the hope of a life with God or the promise of eternal life. It is this hope that will keep us solid so that we can weather the worst storms of rejection. It will become the central place in our affections - a hope that keeps us going when we feel most alone. The third is: Conviction We often limit our knowledge of our wrong doings to the obvious moral failures and bad living, if we do this we tend to become a rigidly good person who’s relationships at best are stiff. We have not learned to love. If we become more a tuned to the subtle violations of love that we make due to our self-protecting way of loving, we can come to the realization that every moment is made up of moral choices to put others first or look after number one. When we face our wrong doings in all their ugliness we can truly repent at the deepest level. Freeing us to begin to truly love, a love that is penetrating and rich. Do not let the confusions of life rob you of confidence in the truth. Cling to what you know is true. Trust the power of where your strength comes from. Burn the truths into yourself at times of deepest confusion. Do not let disappointment prevent you from enjoying life.Be grateful for your friends and family and other people and the things they do. Don’t let conviction of wrong doing stop you from doing nice things for other people. Honor your commitment to face life honestly. It takes courage to follow this path, a path that will lead to joy, peace, health and love. Do not let your past abuse prevent you from learning to live and love now! Be courageous - choose courage its yours to choose. What does it take - what do we have? Acts 27:25 So take courage! For I believe in God! It will be just as he said!