Courage

Those small little bits will require a lifetime of courage to master…

The Garden of Gethsemane (Descart Morocco)

When my brother in law was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, and the situation was dire, my sister – his wife – was at times quite overcome by the situation that her family was in.  Within a few years, my brother in law would pass away (may God rest his soul) and my sister would be a single mother to five young children.

At the time, she spoke to her parish priest – who was a dear friend of my late brother in law – and the priest said to her, “Courage!”

And I have thought about that calling of that priest and I have thought about my sister in her new and very unexpected life.  And I have thought too about my brother in law.

One thing that I think that family has is COURAGE.

This is not to say that times are not difficult or that the grief is no real.  Rather, it is to say that the only way that they can proceed against all of the unknowns that they are facing is to have courage.

Christ calls us to be courageous.  He calls us to act when we would rather wait and to hold our tongues when we would rather speak.  God expects us to see our lives through His eyes – which is just another way of saying that God wants us to trust in Him so completely that we will not feel any need to give in to fear.  After all, if I could just understand that God is taking care of everything then I would never feel the need to be afraid and I would be able to overcome all fear through courage.  Courage, which is not the absence of fear – but rather is the conquering of it!

And there is great courage in living my vocation.  God wants me to pick up and have faith.  Carrying a cross is the vocation of every Christian.  Christ told us – after all – “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” (Mark 16:24).  And there is self-denial in a vocation like that.  There is courage to be able to hold firm and stand up and say – I will take up that burden now God, and I will trust in YOU – completely – that YOU will be able to help me carry it.

And I have been thinking about that today – not in a metaphorical sense or in a theoretical sense, I am thinking about it in a practical sense.  I am thinking about this in light of the small irritations in life that I am unable to control myself about – the swearing and the gossip and the uncharitable thoughts – those little things that seem not so terribly bad at the time but are actually a terrible foundation.

For it seems to me that when I think of courage I think of the HUGE things – life and death and love and hate and war and peace.  I very rarely – if at all – think of all the small little bits and pieces that could consume my life.  And yet – for a miserable soul like mine, those small little bits are the only things that I am being called to focus on.  Those small little bits will require a lifetime of courage to master…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.