Courage comes in many forms.  There’s the single mother who has the courage to tell the story of her abuse.  There is the depressed woman who tells of her own thoughts of suicide.  Connecting with other people takes courage even if you aren’t revealing your deepest darkest secret.  After all, what if someone else has just told you something this big?  What do you say?

Recently I saw a video with Nadia Bolz-Weber.  In this particular video she was discussing grief.  In case you’ve never seen her or her videos, I’ll include this one below.  In this particular video she explains that when someone is grieving they don’t need Precious Moment platitudes.  They need you to be present.

And I think that’s the case in a lot of tough situations.  Be there.  Admit that the situation is a true horror.  Don’t discuss the greater good or God’s plan.  You and I have very little idea what that is anyway.

Have the courage to show up, to tell them that this truly stinks, but that you are there.  It takes courage but many things worth doing do.

–SueBE