Prayer Offered for March 12, 2020

I cannot say where courage lives,

Only that it comes to the heart that is open,

To the heart that asks,

To the heart that does not turn away.

It can take practice,

Days of tugging at what keeps us bound,

Seasons of pushing against

What keeps our dreaming small.

When it arrives, it might surprise us

By how quiet it is,

But we will know it by the strength

That rises from within…

We will recognize it by how still our fear becomes

Perhaps never quite leaving,

But calmly turning into joy

As we enter the life that is finally our own.

(Adapted from Blessing of Courage by Jan Richardson)                            

Gracious God, thank You for the women who have inspired us to greater courage in our lives.

—AMEN.