cour ~ age     noun

Origin: Middle English denoting the heart as the seat of feelings; Old French corage ; from Latin cor  ‘heart’

Recently I felt fear, the emotional response to a known or definite threat. The danger was real and immediate. There was a clear and present object of fear.

I actually respond better in a true crisis, thanks to our inborn fight or flight stress response. Without it, our mind would not receive the danger signal and our bodies would not be prepared to flee or to stay and battle the danger.

More familiar to me is the force of anxiety, a shifting sense of apprehension about an unknown threat. The symptoms are often the same as fear: a tightening in my chest, shortness of breath, racing thoughts . . . but my body does not have anything of substance to flee or fight.

Whether I am experiencing fear or anxiety, I need courage, “the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.” In some traditions, the word fortitude holds the same meaning.

Ancient Greeks considered it one of four cardinal virtues.

Ancient Romans thought it formed part of vertis, a habit of mind.

Eastern traditions state that courage is derived from love (“慈 loving 故 causes 能 ability 勇 brave”)

Moderns like Thomas Hobbes and David Hume considered courage a natural virtue, a strength of mind.

In both Catholicism and Anglicanism, courage is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

All of these interest me, but it does me no good to hear someone say “be brave.”  Courage is not naturally within me.  If it comes from the Holy Spirit, it must be because 1) we have need of it and 2) we cannot generate it in ourselves and 3) God loves us enough to supply it.

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (New Living Translation)

So  “loving causes ability brave.” Do I really trust in God’s love for me?