Today, fear has become one of the dominant forces shaping our world. It is used to capture our attention, to harden our hearts, and to convince us that retreat is the safest option. In such a climate, courage can feel rare.

But courage, like hope and kindness, is a virtue that becomes powerful precisely when the world feels most fragile.

The Shadow of Fear

Much has been said about the chaos of our times – political tension, social fragmentation, wars, economic uncertainty. Fear seeps into our conversations, our news feeds, and even our private thoughts. It whispers the lie that we are too small, too vulnerable, or too powerless to make a difference.

When fear becomes all pervasive, it quietly reshapes us. We become more cautious, more cynical, more withdrawn. We avoid hard conversations. We hesitate to stand up for others. We shrink from the responsibilities that once animated us.

Fear convinces us that survival is enough and we quickly find ourselves feeling apathetic, indifferent, and isolated. 

Yet, a part of us resists the siren song of fear. It may be but a whisper or a hunch, but is there nonetheless. And I believe this is the steady voice of courage gently inviting us towards meaningful action.

Courage as a Steady Flame

In the classic stories we enjoy, we’re drawn to characters who choose courage even when they feel incapable, powerless, or afraid. Their courage is rarely loud or triumphant. More often, it is a trembling step forward when turning back would be easier.

These stories resonate with us because deep down, we know courage isn’t meant only for heroes in other worlds. Courage is meant for ordinary people navigating the challenges of everyday life.

And courage, like hope, often begins small.

It is a faithful flame that grows each time we choose to act in alignment with our values rather than our fears. It grows each time we decide that dignity, compassion, and justice are worth defending.

Courage in Our Daily Lives

When we think of courage, we often imagine grand gestures or heroic feats. But the courage our world most needs right now lives in ordinary acts such as speaking the truth even when your voice quivers, standing in solidarity with the marginalized even when it’s unpopular, or refusing to dehumanize those you disagree with regardless of how strong your emotions may be. 

These small moments are not insignificant. They are the very places where fear is challenged and pushed back. Courage is cultivated not in rare, dramatic decisions, but in the quiet daily choices that slowly reshape who we are.

The Courage to Live as If Change is Possible

Courage, at its core, is the declaration:

Humanity is not finished. We are not powerless. Our actions matter.

This is why courage pairs so naturally with hope and kindness. Hope gives us direction. Kindness grounds us in humanity. Courage compels us to step forward.

The truth is, courage is contagious. When one person acts with courage, others recognize a path forward for themselves. A single act can ripple outward, restoring faith in what is possible.

In this moment of history, we need people willing to practice this quiet, steady courage – people who will resist the lure of fear and choose instead to move toward the good.

Courage does not promise an easy road. But it does promise a meaningful one.

So to conclude, I ask:
What would your life look like if you let courage lead you, even just a little more than fear?

About the Author: Kevin Culver, LPCC, is a professional counselor, published author, and owner of Resilient Kindness Counseling. Kevin has a MA in Mental Health Counseling and a BA in Theological Studies. With a background in spirituality, philosophy, and psychological research, Kevin provides a holistic approach to therapy that seeks to honor each client’s unique personality, worldview, and life aspirations. In his therapeutic work, he helps clients rediscover their humanity and create greater meaning in their lives, work, and relationships. He enjoys working with individuals from all backgrounds, but specializes in working with men’s issues, spirituality, and relationship issues. If you are interested in working with Kevin or learning more about his practice, please visit resilientkindness.com or email him at kevin@resilientkindness.com

“I’m not optimistic, but I am hopeful. And hope is the virtue that sits between the vices of optimism and pessimism. Hope is the idea that good things are going to happen because we can make them so.” 

In my last post, I explored the virtue of kindness. Kindness is powerful because it affirms and celebrates the humanity of others, making it an effective tool and countermeasure to the widespread cruelty of our times. Adjacent to kindness is a similar and equally powerful virtue: the virtue of hope.

Hope in Literature and Films

As a kid in the early 2000s, I grew up with films inspired by classic books such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I still revisit these films, and each time I watch them, I walk away encouraged and heartened by their underlying message of hope.

Broadly speaking, these stories portray a world that is becoming increasingly dark as a growing evil threatens to overthrow and destroy the world as it is known. As the evil grows, fear spreads and courage becomes rare with most succumbing to feelings of helplessness, despair, and apathy.

Yet, the impact of these stories is found in the struggle of the characters who hold on to a sense of hope – the deeply rooted belief that the world isn’t condemned to darkness and there is still time to redirect the world towards a brighter future.

At times, their hope feels ridiculous and ill-advised, but through the course of the story, their hope is vindicated. The path towards victory was small and hidden, and it was only those with hope that were able to see it and follow it to completion. 

Hope in Our Times 

Today, there is a growing sentiment that the world is becoming increasingly chaotic, hostile, and unsafe. In such an environment, it can be easy to fall into either pessimistic fatalism, where one feels powerless to alter the course of history, or into naive optimism and the flimsy belief that “things will work out, so I don’t have to do anything.”

Hope, in contrast, requires action – it is an active virtue rooted in reality. It pushes us towards involvement and participation in our historical moment.

I want to return here to the quote I initially shared, particularly the latter part, “Hope is the idea that good things are going to happen because we can make them so.” 

This encapsulates the beauty of hope: by having hope, we move toward action, which in turn helps us realize that which we are hoping for. In other words, we are the solution to our despair.

The Fire that Spreads

Hope is often symbolized as a light in the darkness. A single candle can be seen from a great distance on a clear night, and its flame carries the potential to light a thousand more. Hope is contagious and can spread like wildfire – it may start small and in isolation, but can quickly build momentum into collective action and societal change. 

In this historical moment, will we dare to hope? Will we dare to envision a better world and actively move towards its creation?

About the Author: Kevin Culver, LPCC, is a professional counselor, published author, and owner of Resilient Kindness Counseling. Kevin has a MA in Mental Health Counseling and a BA in Theological Studies. With a background in spirituality, philosophy, and psychological research, Kevin provides a holistic approach to therapy that seeks to honor each client’s unique personality, worldview, and life aspirations. In his therapeutic work, he helps clients rediscover their humanity and create greater meaning in their lives, work, and relationships. He enjoys working with individuals from all backgrounds, but specializes in working with men’s issues, spirituality, and relationship issues. If you are interested in working with Kevin or learning more about his practice, please visit resilientkindness.com or email him at kevin@resilientkindness.com

People refuse to wear masks, thus endangering the lives of our more vulnerable from Covid. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his net worth in a single day, while his company paid just a little over 1% in taxes in 2019, despite the United States 21% federal tax rate on corporations (1). An estimated 19 to 23 million individuals are at high risk of being evicted from their homes by the end of September, hitting Black and Latinx rents the hardest (2). We have a corporatized healthcare system unable and ill-equipped to provide basic healthcare and fostering increasing inequities (3). And we have a policing system rife with systemic and structural racism.

In spite of all the anger and yes—hate—we can train in compassion. We train in order to RELEARN to relate to ourselves, others, and the world around us from a place of understanding and compassion rather than from excessive judgment. Full disclosure: I can more easily extend compassion and well-being toward the sheep. It’s the leaders who perpetuate social and ecological injustices for greed, selfishness, and political gain who I have trouble with. 

SEE BEHIND: THE INTENTION TO BE OPEN TO THE FIELD OF LOVE

For this I turn to the teachings of Andrew Dreitcer, Associate Professor of Spirituality, Director of Spiritual Formation, and Co-Director of the Center for Engaged Compassion. I attended his workshop at the 2016 International Symposium for Contemplative Studies, hosted by the Mind & Life Institute (4 and 5). 

Using a thousand-year-old Christian early morning practice, he led us in a process of INTENTION to be open;  i.e., when we are not capable of compassion, but we truly desire to be available to the presence of love, for ourselves and others. 

First centering ourselves, he asked us to seek within us one word that could focus us on the intention to be open. 

That word—our mantra—was then the focus of our meditation for the next 20 minutes, the idea being that throughout the day when anger or fury arose and compassion for our fellow human beings was nowhere to be found, we could return to this word with the intent to extend compassion. 

I find this process very hopeful—and helpful. Instead of throwing myself on the rocks for my lack of compassion, I can at least stay in this space of intent, knowing it is an ancient monastic tradition where it just might lead me into a “connection with an eternal, loving presence,” as Andrew called it.  

SEE BEHIND: COMPASSION VS. EMPATHY

At that same conference, Geshe Thupten JInpa of McGill University spoke on “Understanding the Psychology Behind Compassion Meditation.”

Compassion is a natural sense of concern that arises within us when confronted with another’s suffering and then feel motivated to see that suffering relieved. 

It’s comprised of three parts: first there’s the understanding that someone IS suffering; second, we feel an emotional connection; and third, we are motivated to see the suffering relieved. And this third piece of “doing” includes the prayerful act of practicing lovingkindness toward another, of wishing the other well by connecting spiritually to our common humanity.

A significant difference between empathy and compassion is that third step:  empathy takes us to the place where we enter emotionally into someone else’s suffering; we focus on the problem and the experience of it. If we stay in this emotional swirl, we can easily shift into “empathy burnout”. 

We manifest compassion, however, when motivated to relieve that suffering; it takes on an ethical quality—a way of being. 

A solution to the personal distress of empathy burnout is to shift empathy to compassion. Empathy can take a form of “feeling for” vs. the “feeling with” of compassion.  

SEE BEHIND

On the word lovingkindness, meditation author and teacher Sharon Salzberg says that while the word includes “a deep acknowledgement of connection [with someone], it doesn’t mean you like them or approve of them; it doesn’t demand action; it doesn’t mean being sweet, with only a sugary ‘yes’” to that which contradicts who we are.

“Compassion,” she continued, “rests on the shared understanding that we are all quite vulnerable. In life there is nothing we can hold on to” as permanent, all is always changing. 

Whatever your experience is, sit mindfully with it experience nonjudgmentally, asking your higher self what you can do to mitigate the suffering around us. You may just sit there and breathe, expressing goodwill toward that person. You may find yourself walking away. You may find yourself at a demonstration, facing exposure to teargas. 

I encourage you to see behind: to see behind someone else’s comments and actions—and your own. Train in shifting that energy within you from excessive judgment to compassion and lovingkindness.

Notes & Sources: 

1. https://www.fastcompany.com/90536152/calculate-how-many-seconds-it-takes-jeff-bezos-to-earn-your-annual-salary; https://www.salon.com/2020/07/24/as-laid-off-workers-face-a-financial-cliff-amazons-jeff-bezos-grows-13-billion-richer-in-one-day_partner/
2. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200730.190964/full/
3. https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/health_inequities/en/#:~:text=Health%20inequities%20are%20differences%20in,right%20mix%20of%20government%20policies.
4. ISCS “brings together scientists, scholars, artists and contemplatives to explore distinct though overlapping fields of research and scholarship, using a multidisciplinary, integrative approach to advance our understanding of the human mind.” This blog includes thoughts from a previous blog I wrote in 2017.
5. The mission of the Mind & Life Institute is to alleviate suffering and promote flourishing by integrating science with contemplative practice and wisdom traditions. https://www.mindandlife.org/mission 

About the Author: Rev. Mary Coday Edwards is a Spiritual Growth Facilitator and People House Minister. A life-long student of spirituality, Mary spent almost 20 years living, working, and sojourning abroad in Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America before finding her spiritual connection at People House and completing its Ministerial Program. Past studies include postgraduate studies from the University of South Africa in Theological Ethics/Ecological Justice, focusing on the spiritual and physical interconnectedness of all things. With her MA in Environmental Studies from Boston University, abroad she worked and wrote on environmental sustainability issues at both global and local levels, in addition to working in refugee repatriation.

Abraham Lincoln’s words are as true today as when he spoke them. “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” We must heal or this sickness will continue the chaos and destroy our nation and us. My heart hurts and this pain won’t easily go away and won’t until we care and recognize we are one humanity. 

Today, I see a glimmer of hope.  I see people of all colors standing for a change that needs to happen, for justice, equality, and treating each and every person with respect.  Most people protesting are doing so in a peaceful way to raise awareness of the tragic injustice happening to black and disenfranchised groups of people.

We have a long way to go.  Storms of violence have spread across the nation.  It is painful to see violence, and it is a reflection of the violence against human lives that has been fostered through oppression. There are those that are fighting for their life.  When you have been shoved down and your anguish and pleas have been ignored the buried rage to survive bursts out often in exceedingly destructive ways.  You may judge it or not understand it but this reaction comes from a natural will to live and for justice to be enacted.  Desperation causes desperate acts.

Desperation Causes Desperate Acts

Fear Closes the Heart

There is another insidious element of malicious violence that is being incited to create division and separation.  There are those that do not want peace and harmony or justice and equality.  Their racism stems from fear and entitlement.  It closes one’s heart to the suffering of others.   Cold hatred lashes out with a desire to keep others down.  These people do not want change or unity.  They manipulate the view of the protests and create more fear and retaliation by threatening rhetoric or by intermingling with peaceful protesters and agitating violence by setting fires, looting and causing destruction.    

As we know, violence begets violence and although the chaos is bringing an awareness that we cannot ignore, it is also breeding more hatred and misunderstanding.  All attacks against protestors, bystanders, journalists, police, shop owners, and neighbors are toxic.  None of the violence and destruction is acceptable or will bring peace.  What to do? 

Open to the Pain

This can only be solved by adjusting our consciousness away from the mental distortions of fear and into the depths of our heart.  This means

feeling the pain, despair, futility, and sense of powerlessness that is held within our fellow humans.  At the deepest core of our being, we must open ourselves to feeling the suffering we cause each other through our defensive nature of separation.  It takes courage to move beyond conditioned fear and to reach for understanding and compassion.  Justice will prevail when we stand up to the truth of our dysfunction.  When will we see that championing equality with the right to life and liberty benefits everyone?  

Can you not see that if you hurt another, you hurt yourself as well?  We are interdependent.  What I do affects you and what you do affects me.  Our nation and our world are out of balance because we believe we must compete, outwit, dominate and fight.  These are primitive behaviors that no longer work.  We are destroying ourselves.  Let’s stop the hatred.  Let’s lift each other up and care for one another. 

Allow Feeling to Connect You

The world has rapidly changed.  We are connected globally and we cannot go backwards into some past that really wasn’t just.  In this mechanized world, will we succumb to numbness and ignore the pain caused from righteous indignation?  Will we lose all of our feeling and with it our connection to one another?  If we do not learn how to care, cooperate and empower one another, we will perish.  Let’s realize that our unique differences are valuable gifts that strengthen all of us.  Will you allow yourself to feel?

My heart aches….and that is good.

Dorothy Wallis is a former intern at People House in private practice with an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy.  She is a Psychotherapist, Certified Relational Life Therapist, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, and an International Spiritual Teacher at the forefront of the consciousness movement for over thirty years grounded in practices of meditation, family systems, relationships, and emotional growth.  Her work reflects efficacious modalities of alternative approaches to healing for individuals and couples based upon the latest research in science, human energy fields, psychology, and spirituality. 

As a leader in the field of emotional consciousness and the connection to mind, body and spirit, her compassionate approach safely teaches you how to connect to your body, intuition and knowing to clear emotional wounds and trauma at the core.  The powerful Heartfulness protocol empowers your ability to join with your body’s innate capacity to heal through holistic Somatic, Sensory and Emotional awareness. 

www.TheDorWay.com and www.Heartfulnesspath.com