Develop yourself into an instrument of courage.

I listened to a podcast the other day where Caroline Myss discussed the courage to combat evil. She described evil as being “the absence of grace” and moments when we consciously choose to disconnect from our conscience. I understand this to be when we let our choices and actions be driven by fear, rather than from an intent to do harm. Spiritual work/light work/love work requires that we have faith and trust in something bigger than us and that takes immense courage. It’s not for the faint of heart. She goes on to say that one of the reasons we have such a hard time having faith in something bigger is because we don’t have faith or trust in ourselves. Faith is something that is built from the inside out. Not something we get by projecting it out into the world with spiritual showmanship or bypassing. We build trust in ourselves by upholding virtues. Virtues like trust, dignity, self-respect and respect for others are REAL and they are the structures that uphold the benevolence of the universe. If we can cultivate real faith and trust in ourselves by acting in ways that are connected to our conscience, we can begin to trust the goodness of the universe. Upholding a virtue may perhaps be one of the most courageous acts of love. If we are to be true holy men and holy women we must develop ourselves into instruments of courage and release our fear of being out of control. It’s from these courageous acts that we create more love and free ourselves and one another from suffering. It ain’t easy but this a true path of love and devotion.