Courage

Courage is fear saying its prayers.  We tend to think of courage as the absence of fear, the empowerment of conviction, bravery, etc.  But real courage is acting in the face of fear, taking a stand when overcome with fear..  It takes courage to confront our addictions when our addictions have so completely taken our lives.  It takes courage to step into God’s open future where none of the old rules of domination apply.  We are so persuaded by “might makes right” that we can’t conceive of a world run by love and affirmation.  Deep down, we long for a God of vengeance, not a God of love.   We say we believe in change yet we are quick to judge anyone who has changed as being dishonest and fake.  We say, “The carrot is more effective than that stick,” but deep down, we don’t really believe it.  We are more easily persuaded by the immediacy of punishment.  It’s so much easier to keep doing what we are doing than working toward significant social and spiritual change.  Courage is fear saying its prayers.

Let’s be honest.  Our one true God is war.  We love war.  War makes us feel powerful, in control, bigger than life.  War, we say, makes the man.  It separates the brave from the cowards.  We use God to justify our wars, our lust, our violence, our hatred, our selfishness, and our greed.  War has no place for forgiveness, second chances, resurrection, or redemption. With war, we never have to swallow our pride and admit wrongdoing.  War requires a certain kind of courage,  that is true.  It takes a lot of something to go into war, knowing you may be killed or horribly wounded.  But forgiveness also requires courage.  It requires the courage involved in letting go, admitting our faults and mistakes, accepting blame, and allowing for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances.  It requires letting go of our right to defend and justify ourselves and to allow others to be different than we are.  

I’ve often heard the 12 steps described as a selfish program because recovery and salvation are all about changing ourselves and our responses and reactions to life.  One of the first and most important rules of recovery and salvation is to “take the focus off of others and put it on yourself.”  As the reading “Helping” says, “we can change ourselves.  Others we can only love.”  And loving and respecting the rights of others takes courage, real mental, emotional, and spiritual courage.   Humility and honesty are not for the faint-hearted.  It’s so much easier to bully, put down, criticize, and judge than it is to accept, affirm, look for the good, share our resources, forgive, encourage, etc.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.  Taking,  as he did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.  Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will so I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.