“We live in a world which has become too complex to unravel; there is nothing we can do about it, we little people who don’t have big government posts or positions of importance.  But I believe that the Kingdom is built on the little things that all of us do.” – Madeleine L’Engle

It is hard for me to walk bravely in my life when I don’t have examples of courageous living in front of me.  Fear and uncertainty are seductive lovers.

I need brave people around me.  I need to know there are courageous lives being lived.

Being brave isn’t just so I can talk on the phone without getting nauseous or so I can reduce my anxiety about new things.  Being brave is about changing the world.

It is hard to enter the hard places in our soul, our humanity, and history and feel hopeful.  I’m learning I need to seek out the good and the true and find those who walk bravely.

Because it is possible to enter the darkness of the world and not be overwhelmed by it.  People do it every day.  We just usually don’t know about it.

Take the news of Gaza and Israel – it seems completely frustrating, and despair the only option.  How can mere people impact the powers of empire?

But then I found an organization, one among many, and a spark of hope lit up the darkness.  Palestinian and Israeli fighters are laying down their weapons and working together.  The members of Combatants for Peace are living brave lives.  They are doing incredibly good, hard work, with, I’d imagine, a lot of personal pain and loss.

It is possible to be courageous.

And it’s made a little bit easier when we see and recognize those people in our lives and in the world who also walk with brave hearts.

I have been made so much stronger and braver this past year because of some of the people I’ve met and been surrounded by.  Even if I don’t know them well – knowing they are in my world in some shape has inspired me to seek out a healthier, braver way of life.

Bethany          Brenna           Hope           Abby

Elora             Austin          Mihee            Jen

Esther           Suzannah         Anna            Osheta

Beth            Lisha            Jamie             Katelin

A’Driane          Brandy            Nicole         Tara

Mandy                Suey             Alison           Cayce

Marvia         Danielle       Emily         Lindsay

Courageous lives are being lived.  Let yours be one of them.

*****

Coming soon: Learning How To Walk With A Brave Heart – a zine for when shame gets in the way.