The Book of Common Courage: Prayers and Poems to Find Strength in Small Moments

by K.J. Ramsey

May the God of courage fill you with all you need. Bear witness to your life, trusting you are being followed and called by the Voice of Love every day. Receive rest as your right. May quiet waters drip you into remembrance of your baptism as one whom God always loves. When you are afraid or ashamed, may you find your breath can bring you back to life. Refuse to separate God’s glory from your good. Even though valleys will stretch across your life, may you walk in wonder at how God will pave vulnerability into the intersection of sorrow and joy. Remember that fear is only the first moment of courage, for fear is always a place Christ has visited before you and waits with you. Look for the Shepherd’s staff to rest across your shoulders as a reminder of divine presence rather than a rod of punishment. Return to the table God keeps preparing for you. This seat and food and wine are yours regardless of those who uninvite you. God will never leave you without a witnes or a name. God anoints you not for what you’ve done but for who you will become. When you have been emptied, poured out like wine, may you find you were somehow being filled. May these words become your truth, forever your sign: My cup overflows. In me, Love resides.