Mark Twain once called courage the “mastery of fear.” Jeanette Hardage shared the poem below about courage with her daughters many years before she published it in Faith and Other Matters, clearly hoping to pass that quality on to her children through her words. Her idea of courage was rooted in a strong knowledge of and reliance on the love and care of God, which she found sufficient to banish fears in her mind. May you find courage today to fight your own emotional battles.
Courage
Here, take this courage—
some day you’ll need it.
Use it for security and shelter
when life seems bitter.You will find it always ready
for your frightened mind’s question.
It will be your bastion.Courage is the strength of life’s heroes.
After the form of Josephine Miles’ “The Faith”
Call it emotion’s harness,
a weapon for rightness.