“Courage, dear heart.” C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
His name was Johnny. He had curly dark hair, a ready smile, and a sense of adventure. He was my best friend from the time we could run, and run we did. He lived two doors down from me. In our back yards, we were cowboys, cops, captains of our fate. The beautiful queen and handsome king. We tumbled and climbed and hid and fought the bad guys.
We were heroes, our hearts full of courage. And every day, we saved the world and then headed into the castle for PB&J and Kool-Aid.
As I got older, I realized that heroes don’t always seem heroic like we were. They don’t have to be beautiful or handsome, rich, flashy, strong, or young. A heart of courage can beat in the chest of anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Courage is a virtue. It is the “willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty.”
It takes courage to
keep going when your husband and best friend of 52 years has passed away.
be a caregiver for your spouse or other loved one.
face down a major illness.
raise your child when you’re a single parent.
work harder than you ever dreamed to support your family.
wake up with chronic pain every day and live your life in spite of it.
give your heart to someone else, even though you know you might get hurt.
2020 required courage in ways we’d never thought about before. This year will likely be the same.
In thinking about that, I find this quotation to be helpful:
“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Dorothy Bernard
It’s not the absence of fear but the acknowledgement of it and the humility to ask for help from the One who can truly give it.
Courage was a constant companion back in the days I ruled The Kingdom of the Back Yard. Since then, I have said many prayers in the face of fear.
And sometimes, when I am most desperate, I can almost hear the words, spoken by the real hero, “Do not fear. I will strengthen you. I will help you.”
Friends, I urge you to do the same. Courage, dear heart.
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