Words are powerful. Written or spoken, nothing has the power to change a heart and soul more swiftly than words. They can erect a mountain of support to one in dire need. They can pummel and pulverize a mountain of hope in that same soul. So much can be said with so few, and so little can be said with volumes. We use words daily, women requiring greater dosage than men. Men use words mentally, rolling them around in our heads, revealing them with grunts and groans, and when prodded, spill the noodles spun in our noggin. As I examine the blogging/Facebook universe, it is clear that so many seem to have so much to say, and also clear that so many have so little to say.
I have been blogging for a few years with few readers and fewer followers. My dad is one of my faithfuls, our parents should be, right? But if my words have no value, they are squandered, void and worthless. T(here) is a challenge. A call to use words carefully. A request to make them count, really count as investments into hearts, and so it was, at it's inception, the desire of this man's blog. Hoping for connection, via writing to speak into the crux of hearts in crucial moments, I write. My desire? To encourage, prod the cogitation of effective living, and press forward in the hard stuff, the exultant joy stuff, and the everywhere in between stuff of life and living.
I, becoming a writer, love language, enjoying well placed words. Creating meaning and understanding, communicating clearly with brevity is difficult, but it is my desire as I work on this craft of wordsmithing.
Today, and probably for a few more blogs, I speak of courage. My wife, working as a pediatric nurse, attended a class that disturbed me. It was a class focusing on looking for signs of childhood suicide, a rapidly rising endemic. Suicide is the act, the ultimate step of discouragement, and it is, final. It is the loss of all courage, the belief that ending it all will 'fix' it, and it is heartbreaking. Courage, according to dictionary.com, is the quality of mind or spirit enabling a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear; bravery, and it should be evident that a life pursuing or culminating in suicide has lost courage.
I have come to believe that we can develop courage by being exposed to it, recognizing it for what it is, while being inspired, to our core, with the victory it brings for those who cling to it. There is something deeply inspiring found in the intimate connection to a soul locked in courage against the greatest odds, even if they lose in the end. There is also something powerful when we utilize courage to come alongside one who could use a boost of courage as together we join in their fight. I also believe that major media and our lives have become so cluttered with a fraudulent, sensationalized version that we see the real deal as only for the movies, only for a few, not really for us.
Truth is, real courage, real inspiration, real victories are all around us, and I want to encourage all of us to step into that world of struggle and victory, such that in our time to rise, we find ourselves up to the challenge. Sure, it requires courage to walk into the hospital room of a very sick friend. It really is hard to call, let alone visit, someone who is struggling because they lost their job, their spouse, their hope. But it is imperative that we do for others what we hope they might do for us, come alongside in time of need to encourage courage. Our words, or mostly our presence, speak volumes, impactful volumes into the lives of another.
My desire is that the words I use speak to the hearts and souls within us. My hope is to encourage courage as I press through life with these footprints and faith. My courage? My faith? Comes first from my LORD and God, and He is seen in the courage found as I encounter His children in the midst of their battles. If we muster the courage to join others in the battle of life, we will see victory.
As I come alongside my friends facing their mountain of challenge, my desire is to encourage courage, and it is also my prayer that they do the same with me. I know you will be surprised when you walk through the door of one in the midst of the battle. Indeed, it takes courage to encourage. If you find your heart racing and you are not sure what to say, just smile and stand in support. Look beyond the situation to what could be if met with courage and diligence. Speak to those hopes, the joy of overcoming against all odds. More importantly, I have found, is to put our faith in the only one who knows all and cares for all, our LORD. He will rock your world and theirs. If you never do, you never stand with another, you never will find the joy that encouraging courage brings.
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