Strength is Something You Are

I keep the word "Courage" in the cup holder of my car. It's getting to look a little battered because it has been there ever since Rebecca Stoker posted each of the 12 Powers around Unity's sanctuary, office and halls a few years before the pandemic hit. I tore off the word courage. I call on courage so often that I want it in my eyesight every time I get into my car. 

The situations have varied. For example, I call on my courage to tell someone something they might not want to hear but that I need to say. I need to be sure of my feelings. I know to use a gentle, matter-of-fact tone of voice. My reward is often that I am heard and the other person and I find a solution that works for both of us. Another example was last June when I needed to remind myself I could drive to visit my mom in Illinois by myself. I can handle driving 6 hours one day and 7 the next. I can do it. The reward was a couple weeks with my mom.

This is from Unity's Advent booklet for December 27, 2019: Strength, Stability, Courage, Tenacity 

Affirmation: By the light of strength, I stand steady in the midst of shifting circumstances. I am courageous and tenacious.

From Unity's Booklet "How to Stay Centered, No Matter What" which includes essays on each of the 12 powers, I take this from the essay on Strength: Remember that strength is not something you have but what you are as an expression of God's divine presence.

And from Unity's Daily Word for this last March 19: Strength. I use my strength to stay the course when my attention wanes, maintain my endurance when I'm tempted to give up, and withstand my trials when it's easier to give in.

Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

I wish each of us to be Courage whenever we need it. Amen! And so it is!

~ Jean

P.S. I am in Illinois again right now. I drove to visit my mom for two weeks, knowing I could do it.