Courage Changes Everything

Courage changes everything.

As he stood before hundreds of people and spoke to them about truths he held close to his heart and lessons that he had learned in his short life experienceLuke Russert had to know that courage changes everything. Luke Russert was 24 years of age when he gave his first college commencement address at Wingate University just a couple of weeks ago. I sat in the front row reflecting on my year of life when I was 24, wondering if I could have had the courage or skill at that age to do what he was doing. My answer was a resounding no!

Courage is an amazing tool if we can claim it. It empowers us to face things we never thought we we would be privileged to face. In Luke's case, courage gave him the ability to offer his first commencement address! It empowers us to be able to face things we never thought we'd have to face. In Luke's case, courage gave him the ability to face publicly the death of his father just two years ago. You may recall, that Tim Russert (former host of NBC's 'Meet the Press'), Luke's father, passed away suddenly from heart complications as Luke and his mother were continuing a family vacation in Europe. He had to have learned in those grief-stricken days, how courage changes everything.

On that day at Wingate University, another brave soul stood before those who were congregated to celebrate the academic success of so many. Rick Hendrick is his name. You may know that Rick has had some challenges in his life but courage has catapulted him. He faced some jail time years ago for some poor decision making on his part, but courage saw him through those tough days. He and his family faced the death of ten of the Hendrick family members (both physically related and business related family) in a plane crash just a few years ago. Courage saw them through those dark times.

Courage may well be what has taken Luke toward the unfolding of his own path as an NBC correspondent. I have no doubt that courage is what has brought about the humility that is unmistakable in Rick Hendrick and empowered him to send plane loads of assistance to the Haitian people amid their recent earthquake.

Courage changes everything. There is an institute called the Virtues in Action Institute whose mission it is to educate others on human strengths as broken down into six categories. Courage is one of those. The VIA subdivides courage into four other categories suggesting that it is bravery is that kind of courage that allows us to do what needs to be done in the face of fear, that perseverance is the component of courage that allows us to keep pushing forward in the face of resistance, that honesty is the form of courage that allows us to practice such integrity that we are able to be true to ourselves in the face of fear and that zest or vitality is that part of courage that helps us face the physical pains of life.

We all seem to have variations on courage relative to our experiences. Many have been the theologians who have proffered their two cents worth on the topic but I am particularly enamored with what the Tao De Ching says of courage. It stems from love because love is what causes the ability to be brave.

I know not what fears, challenges, hardships and ambitions that you face, but I know one thing . . . I watched in Luke . . . I saw it Rick . . . I have learned the lesson in my own ways . . . Courage changes everything!

May courage be ours today! Amen.

Claiming Strength . . . and So I Write!

He gave a wonderful speech. He told of the trials of learning in his late 50s that his company was moving to Omaha, Nebraska and realizing that he was going to have to redefine his life if he wanted to stay near Charlotte. He had always wanted to write a book but everyone told him that he couldn't do it. He knew he could and over the course of three and half years he defied anyone to say otherwise. Few believed in him, but he chose to claim the strength to move forward. As Dave Spohn, author of Trumped in Charlotte, ended his speech, he looked straight at me and said, "Blythe, there is no such thing as writer's block!"

Ouch! Somehow I knew that he was going to say that but he did manage to catch me off guard. I haven't written anything in two months. I have felt blocked, spiritually weak, in a holding pattern with little to say and certainly nothing with any profundity. So why bother? Why waste anyone's precious time reading something that has little to communicate?

Have you ever felt that way? As if nothing is moving forward. Life just is. It isn't exciting but it isn't unexciting either. It just seems on an even plane--no risk taking necessary but no challenges either. You are learning but nothing earth shaking--just the same old lessons that you never seem to get right the first time so the opportunities to practice learning just keep coming and you wonder when you will ever get the lesson right! Life is routine. Life just is.

There was something forceful and eye opening in his words as they echoed in my memory, "Blythe, there is no such thing as writer's block!" I realized that I had to move forward and just do it. The scripture speaks again and again the phrase, "Be strong and courageous." It was as if those were Dave's words to me. "Blythe, be strong and courageous."

The dictionary defines strength as mental power, force or vigor. Many were the times that God exhorted believers to go forward in force and vigor knowing that even though what they were about to attempt appeared totally illogical, God would equip them with the strength to accomplish.

Last year this time, I was frantic in my preparations for leaving my job as a minister. I was excited. I was taking a leap of faith that didn't make a lot of logical sense to others but like Spohn I knew that I could do this. I knew this was the path God had for me. Questions wafted my way: "What are you going to do? How are you going to live?" I could not buy into the doubt I heard in the questions. My response was always the same, "I don't know, God will take care of it." And God did. God gave me the same strength that he gave Dave to move forward toward his dream.

Dave's words called me to claim that strength again. They reminded me that we have the choice to view life from a "life just is" perspective or we can claim every moment with a "Life is!" perspective. Do you hear the difference? The first perspective is a go along to get along mentality and the second chooses to find verve in the seemingly mundane moment knowing that life is unfolding as it should, that the holding patterns are simply part of the construct of a greater plan to which we may not be privy but one that we are called to trust.

Maybe that is the great lesson--learning to claim strength enough to trust every moment to God's care and in so doing to discover that every moment of life is . . . and it is fabulous because God is with us, working for us!

In the mundane routine places of this day, I pray that we will each find the strength to trust God's way and celebrate that life is! Amen.