Courage, Its Face, Its Sounds

What does it look like
        How does it sound;
Its smell is like what,
        It comes when and how?

To speak a word of truth

        To utter kindness or generosity;
To shout a word into the wind of the times
        To whisper against the roar of complacency.

To offer resistance when the clamor
        Is for the same well worn path;
To listen to the quiet cries of the shattered
        Above the shouts of the angry mob.

 To write words that will be

        Misconstrued or misunderstood;
To seek when you cannot find
        And to find when you do not seek.

To pray words when you do not see

        The face of God;
To lay open all of yourself for no one to hear
        And to believe maybe, just maybe.

To offer a hand to the one who has lost the way

        Or to the one blinded by the hatred or hurt of the past;
To touch those deemed infectious by the wise of the day
        To guard the perimeter in bitter cold of winter in a war you did not start.

To stand when all sit,

To sit when all stand;
To pray when all chatter,
To kneel and pray when all others sing.

Courage what does it look like,

        Courage, how does it sound;
The smell of courage is like what,
        Courage comes when and how?

Good Friday Declarations of Awareness by M. Moran Weston

M.Moran Weston, a leader in both ministry and banking, penned the following in Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, by James Melvin Washington. Look here for more information. This book has been a frequent early morning read, immediately after the biblical text. I have learned a lot as these saints of old taught me how to pray and for what to pray.

Here are Dr. Weston's words:

"O God, we acknowledge we do not see clearly, nor fully understand:
open our eyes and our perceptions.

O God, we acknowledge we have too often been unwilling to march
on the seat of power to cleanse church government and the marketplace
from corruption which defiles man and defies God.

O God, we acknowledge, we have too often been unwilling to take a
stand and keep it no matter what the cost:

    grant us wisdom, grant us courage*
    for the facing of this hour.

O God, we acknowledge we have too often been unwilling to face the
agents of corrupt power without fear or flinching: grant us the moral
power to hold our ground.

O God, we acknowledge we have too often retreated and given
ground under the backlash of the Establishment; we have too often
run away and deserted those called by God to lead the eternal
confrontation of injustice and evil:

    grant us wisdom, grant us courage
    for the living of these days.

O God, we acknowledge that too often we have failed under cross
examination on the witness stand; too often we have lost our nerve
when prosecutor, witnesses, jury, and judge have conspired with a
blood-thirsty mob to render a verdict of 'guilty' and a sentence of
'death';

    grant us wisdom, grant us courage
    lest we miss thy kingdom's goal.

O God, we acknowledge that too often we have refused to become
involved, we have sought refuge from the battle by being a sightseer
or spectator: may we be inspired to follow thy example of Thy chosen
ones who have been involved until the bitter end, even at the cost of
their life.

O God, we acknowledge that too often we have not had confidence in
Thy power to bring light out of darkness, good out of evil; by faith
we believe through Thy chosen one Jesus the Carpenter, People's
Leader, Chosen One, Prisoner, Defendant, Condemned Man and
Confident Man, that good will indeed overcome evil, love overcome
hate, and life overcome death.

[May we] go forth into the world with courage and confidence, [and]
be ready to confront evil without retreating, knowing that men and
women, young and old, chosen and called by God will receive power
to stand fast against evil, and to triumph day by day."

*Quote from Fosdick's "God of Grace and God of Glory"
---pages 222, 223