The Road to Brave

Well, this is an interesting time to have a blog about courage. 😉

Take your pick of news articles, podcasts, late-night TV shows…everyone’s talking. The last few weeks, with its unprecedented spread of panic over the coronavirus, has done more to rock our somewhat-steady world than nearly anything else in recent years. Whether or not the panic is warranted is up for debate, but what isn’t is the fact that the effects – be they medical, economic, political, societal, etc. – have now almost universally affected the entirety of our friend groups…and communities…and counties…and states…and country(ies).

Honestly, I can’t think of many circumstances in times of peace that have had this sort of far-reaching impact.  

The kind of impact that levels the playing field and reminds everyone that when we all face the same sorts of difficulties, we may not be so very different after all.

Anything that rocks our world usually throws into sharp relief that which truly matters.

Anything that strips away our “normal” also strips everything back down to brass tacks.

What does really matter?

Sometimes we have to slow down to remember. And right now, with imposed- or self-quarantining happening across the nation, life has definitely slowed down enough to remember. 😊

And when all is said and done – even if we or our loved ones aren’t sick – even if life picks up again at its own merry pace and bounces on – do we really want to be the same people we were before all this happened?

It’s worth taking a run, or settling down with a journal and a cup of tea, and thinking about it.

• Where have our priorities been askew?
• When fear runs amok through a country, what does faith say?
• When plans change abruptly, are we willing to let them go?
• If life is truly about love, then how do we love our neighbors and communities right now?

Most of all…are we brave enough to let this change us – for the better?

Michael Hyatt presented a thought-provoking question in a newsletter earlier this week. Yes, this whole situation has tossed everyone on a wild ride – some more wildly than others. But there’s always a flip side to the inconveniences and frustrations.

What does this make possible?

• In the extra time you now have with your family, what is now possible?
• With unconventional work schedules, what is now possible?
• In a world suddenly filled with different kinds of needs, what is now possible?

Nobody asks for a major life disruption…but maybe, after all, there are lessons that only chaos can teach us effectively.

If we’re willing to let go and learn them.

So in the end…yeah, COVID-19 is demanding courage of so many people in so many ways. Hands-on, in the case of many of our medical personnel. Indirectly, for others. Letting go of plans. Delaying dreams. Pivoting with grace.

Maybe this week, as we all settle into a strange new sort of temporary “normal”, courage doesn’t just mean being brave about a virus. Maybe it also means that we challenge our old “normal”. Maybe it means that we take a closer look at what we’re suddenly free to do. Maybe it means that we let this universal societal swing bring us closer as communities.

Maybe it means that we are brave enough to let this change us, in ways that will long outlast COVID-19.