Reflection
Whenever we confront a difficult, frightening, painful or disturbing experience in which we are challenged or pushed to the limit, whenever we feel threatened and vulnerable, we either find the courage to face and defeat fear or face being defeated by it. Life requires courage. When our first instinctive reaction is to flee, courage is the strength or resolve to meet the scary situation head on. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the strength to move ahead despite fear. Courage comes from within and is needed in a conflicted and divided society. The most needed courage now is moral courage, the courage to do and say what is right despite opposition.
Prayer
The Lord is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
Action
Moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition. Take a stand for some strongly held moral principle or spiritual value despite the personal price or public opinion.
Suggested Reading
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified, for your God goes with you; God will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7
To have courage for whatever comes in life, everything lies in that.
St. Teresa of Avila
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.
Eleanor Roosevelt
It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
J.K. Rowling
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
Vincent Van Gogh
Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.
John Wayn
The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.
Jim Hightower
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.
Mary Anne Radmacher
The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.
John F. Kennedy
Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.
Maya Angelou
We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.