1) Courage. n. The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger with self-possession, confidence and resolution; bravery; valor. [Latin coraticum, Latin cor, heart.]

“We become brave by doing brave acts.”
Aristotle

IN MANY LANGUAGES, courage evolved from root words that mean heart - the core of a being, its feeling, and life. Any significant undertaking is a risk that requires courage. Without courage’s agents of self-possession, confidence and resolution, no significant undertaking can succeed. Furthermore, the passage to freedom particularly requires an indomitable courage to break free of the negative polarity’s ever-present resistance, to undergo the metamorphosis that delivers freedom.

What of evolution if beings lacked courage? What if caterpillar larvae refuse to spin cocoons? Or all erstwhile water animals perished when the water receded, rather than fighting to sustain, then in the process, becoming air breathing animals?

What if America had not taken a stand for independence through the Revolutionary War? Northerners had not taken a stand against slavery as the South’s means to prosperity, and failed liberty’s step toward everyone’s right to plenty? The legions of the Gandhis and King had never endured abuse, harm, and loss, for their subsequent nonviolent stands for freedom? Or Rosa Parks had never insistedon her right to a seat on the bus? What if Hitler had continue unchecked? And what if you and I, and others like us, forget that by being integrous, by living in complete integrity, that we too are taking the next level in humanity’s stand for freedom?

Clearly, the stand for freedom summons courage; to live more fully than is generally accepted as realistic; to venture beyond limits imposed by tradition, authority, expectation and fear; to accept failure as an integral step in knowing how you uniquely succeed; to relinquish comfort in the ordinary to achieve the quality of life that pulses as truth in your heart.

Courage provides the base of unyielding valor that fuels all great accomplishment, endows confidence to assure victory, and initiates virtuous living and the passage to freedom. Like Aristotle said, we develop courage through risk in courageous acts. With courage you get on the horse, or back on it if you were thrown off. With courage, you let yourself love yet again, even when you’ve been hurt too many times. With courage, you try with all your heart, and keep trying until you succeed.

“It takes great strength to survive the force that comes at you
when you want to achieve anything at a great level.”
Sharon Stone

2) Faith. n. A confident belief in the truth, value or trustworthiness of a person, idea or thing. [Latin fides, trust.]

“Columbus found a world, and had no chart save one that faith deciphered in the skies.”
George Santayana

Courage must be confirmed. This confirmation occurs through confidence, as faith, the sustainable trust in the interconnectedness of life that yields support. Faith, that all that is needed has been, is, and will be forever available.

As per John Hagelin, Nuclear Physicist, “we live in a superficially complex universe that is fundamentally simple and superficially diversified, yet fundamentally unified. At its basis is a single, universal, unified field of intelligence that underlies and pervades us all.”

This unified field conceived and birthed the universe and everything in it. It is the basis of the ultimate reality and identity of everything in the universe. It assures that you and I, and everything is of one life, ever living itself through us. This basis of many religions and philosophical conjecture is now a scientific fact: life is superficially diverse but fundamentally unified. And this intelligence of which we are, is immense and unlimited. The Law of Polarity is a vital part of this cohesive universe.

What does this mean with respect to our everyday life experience? Quite simply, it is the crux of our everyday experience of life, the consciousness and alertness of our mind, the Self in the ultimate sense. And it proves that you and I are of the Creator; and hence, are immense and unlimited.

Confidence grows with recurring reliance upon courage, fortitude and perseverance, regardless of fear or circumstance. And so it is with faith. Understanding and knowing the true and actual interconnectedness of all life substantiates faith. It then develops over time because remembering this interconnectedness replaces the fear and insecurity of the illusion of separation and isolation. The result is that you know that everything will be alright. It always has been, so you know it will continue, especially when you believe and maintain the courage to persevere until you succeed.

"When we as a species abandon our trust in the power greater than us,
we abandon our sense of accountability.
Faith... all faiths... are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand,
something to which we are accountable...
With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth."
Dan Brown

© Marianne Weidlein, 2004

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marianne Weidlein, author and transformational facilitator, combines her 35-year background in human potential development, spirituality and self-employment to help groups and individuals achieve success. Her expertise is self-mastery, co-creative relationships and self-employment. For the past two decades, using her techniques and curriculum, she has facilitated innumerable programs of varying sizes and formats to thousands of individuals and partnerships.

Marianne holds a BSBA. Her books are Empowering Vision For Dreamers, Visionaries & Other Entrepreneurs; warm liquid life and her forthcoming The Passage to Freedom, based on her transformational facilitation program.http://www.empoweringvision.com.