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Find Your Courage


Our Lenten journey has begun, and this year the theme that will carry us through to Palm Sunday is all about courage.

Wednesday evening, several of us gathered in the sanctuary for a very moving Ash Wednesday service. As always, it was a simple reflective service of word, song, and ritual. We remembered our baptism and the renewal of life. We remembered our mortality as we were marked with the sign of the cross with ashes made from last year’s palm leaves. It was a time to bring the story of Jesus full circle as we thought about life, death, and new life again.

Each Sunday in worship we will place a new object in our worship centre to help us explore the different kinds of courage revealed in our sacred stories for this season. We begin with sand, and hear the story of Jesus going into the wilderness desert to find his courage as he is faced with temptations. In the end he remains true to his convictions, and in the process, reveals to us a few nuggets that describe his relationship with God. Through this story, we are invited to find our own courage – courage to stay true to what we believe in all the many ways that we show up in the world. Our days are sometimes inundated with distractions that tempt us away from being our authentic selves, so we begin our Lenten walk exploring ways to find the courage to confront temptation.

Here are some “courage” quotes to help us along the way:
“To have courage for whatever comes in life – everything lies in that.” – St. Teresa of Avila
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” – Brene Brown
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher


Peace and joy,
Nancy