Courage Revisted

 

Last year as summer ended and the school year began,

I wrote about courage.

 

Quoting a Celine Dion song, I wrote:

 

“Courage, don’t you dare fail me now

I need you to keep away the doubts

I’m staring in the face of something new

You’re all I’ve got to hold on to

So, courage, don’t you dare fail me now.”

 

I went on to write:

 

Courage: the ability to do something that frightens you.

 

Courage: the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

 

Courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, new things, etc., without fear; bravery.

 

Courage: being a public-school teacher in a society that constantly tries to undermine the importance of diversity, equality, accessibility, experience, and education.

 

I add this year:

 

Courage: starting again in new, smaller space and trying to figure out how to make it work.

 

Oh God: Shed light on this new year and grant me the courage to face the year with steadiness, hope, and belief in the work that I do. Help me to stand boldly for what is good and right and help me to educate my students’ whole selves. Grant courage to my colleagues as well, and grant courage to my students to face the year with an openness for growth and learning that results in healthy and whole human beings. Help us all to navigate through the fears, doubts, and worries that are setting in as a new school year begins, and help us to land on the possibilities of what can be when we face the year with You.

 

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16: 13-14)

 

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

Amen.

Bullet and the Stairs

In his old age, Bullet has become increasingly afraid. I imagine this has to do with not being able to see or hear very well, but he now needs a chaperone to walk, eat, pee, and/or poop. He also needs encouragement to go up and down the steps. He’s afraid of those, too…probably because he’s slipped a few times and hurt his belly. Yesterday, as we were out for Bullet to “do his numbers” (as Olga-Bullet’s-Co-Parent affectionately says), I noticed something that I thought quite amazing: The individuals steps are as high as Bullet—meaning that Bullet has to jump his entire body height each time he climbs one step. No wonder he gets a running start before he starts climbing! I suppose the momentum propels him forward. And no wonder I’ve always felt an innate desire to congratulate him each time he makes it up the steps! After realizing this fact, I started to wonder if I’d be able to make it up a set of stairs where each step was as high as me: Would I have the courage and determination to get a running start and leap up huge obstacles to get to my destination?... To be honest, that’s what these days feel like to a lot of people--huge, life-sized stairs. The obstacles are big—the upward climb is steep—we’re standing at the bottom, looking up, and we can’t see the top—yet we know that it’s there and that to move forward we must climb… In his old age, Bullet has become increasingly afraid. A lot of us have, too. And yet, the little guy faithfully and dutifully climbs major obstacles every day, a couple of times a day, though sometimes stumbling, because he knows that good things are waiting at the top. May we be like Bullet. May we faithfully and dutifully climb—even when the steps are as big as we are. May we believe, together, that good things are waiting on the other side. And may we encourage one another as we go—because every step really is a triumph…