Poem--Courage, I Seek

Courage, I seek...
Courage to live and learn:
To defy what I know is wrong,
Though the world accepts blindly;
Unafraid to walk alone in the right,
Than in the crowd, but wrong…

Courage to think and believe
With the innate wisdom of the soul,
And without the shaky crutches
Of age old convention;
To put faith above the rituals
That shadow the purpose they serve!

Courage, to follow my ideals
Though temptation beckons back and fore
Offering pleasures I delight in,
And through the jeers and gibes
Of the many who wait and watch.

Courage to laugh and smile
With the unaffected heart of a child
Mirth unmarred by the worldliness
Of passing years.

Courage to hold but one staff—
That of truth and honesty,
Through a path narrow, and often thorny,
Yet, the only one straight;
To ignore the deceptive short-cuts
That lead me farther away.

Courage to look within
And see the imperfect “me”
To try and rub off my corners,
Than to search for another’s faults;
To accept my failures and mistakes
With humility, with grace:
To appreciate one superior sincerely
Without envy’s cruel sting.


Courage to accept myself,
Without the shells I grow;
To believe in my uniqueness,
And conquer the insecurity
That vanity and selfishness hide;
To break the fortress I’ve made,
And thus unprotected to stand—
To show the world unashamedly
The person I really am.

Courage to learn from my sorrows
To share another’s pain;
To love and give all in loving,
To defy all to stand by a friend;
To dare to trust unreservedly
And be vulnerable—yet, to risk that pain…
To forgive without bitterness,
Though ever unable to forget.

Courage to have true Faith,
To trust in Him without trepidation,
And see His countless miracles,
Unblinded by cynicism or fanatism;
To seek Him in Joy as in sorrow
To find Him in every day;
To accept, uncomplaining, all life brings
Believing His way as the best.

This courage I seek—
Not the courage that dares to kill;
Courage in order to be human,
With all the imperfections of one.
I know not the courage of warriors—
I do not seek to fight:
Teach me the courage to love others,
And the courage to love myself!