A courageous act is one coming from the heart.
Nouwen challenges us to live from the heart--to live the courageous life.
"A courageous life, therefore, is a life lived from the center. It is a deeply rooted life, the opposite of a superficial life. 'Have courage' therefore means 'Let your center speak'."--from Bread for the Journey, June 26.
Courageous people inspire me. People who are courageous are not people who have no fear. Instead, they are the ones who are afraid, and transcend that fear to do the hard thing.
The courageous life is a life lived deeply from the core of who we are. It is a flight lived as our own, not as someone else. It is life lived on purpose, with the certainty not of outcome, safety, or success, but the surety that we are responding to the deep movements of the Spirit inside of us.
There are infinite ways to live your life. Most of them are very good ways. But to be true to the deep waters of your heart means that you have to listen to your life and listen to the storms and gentle stirrings of the Spirit at your deepest place. This is hard, courageous work.
It is easier to be inspired by another story than by our own.
The most scary work is to do what you alone are called to. It means listening to something other than the drumbeat of security, popularity, and status. To listen to the Voice of the Spirit deep inside that is our Sherpa to edge of our own personal cliff, now that takes courage.
The Spirit guides us not along the path of another person's challenge, but of our own.
That takes courage. From the heart.
Life lived deeply.
1 comment:
Yes, we need to be strong and of good courage. Sometimes it is climbing a ladder; sometimes it is learning a new task.
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