the bravest thing

By John Blase | October 29, 2013 |
maybe the bravest thing
is opening your eyes in the
morning and placing your
two feet on the cold floor and
rising up against the gravity
of the night. maybe that’s the
brave thing from which all other
bravery flows, the brave to
seek ye first. maybe that’s the
single thing God requires of you,
the spiritual discipline that takes
all your will to muster. Swallow
down the fear, my child, and face
the dawning day for what the
surface of the world needs most
of all is bravery skipping and
you, yes you are the stone.
 
 

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15 Comments

  1. Between Me & God on October 29, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    Awesome.

    Reply
  2. Gwen acres on October 29, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Swallow down the fear, my child, and face the dawning day….

    The biggest challenge of the day. Thank you for the poetic encouragement .

    Reply
  3. Diana Trautwein on October 29, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    holy toledo, man. it just rolls off your fingers. what a gift.

    Reply
  4. flaxenprint on October 29, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    soul stir. yes.

    Reply
  5. Lindsay Terry on October 29, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    Super post! You spoke to us where we live…thanks!

    Reply
  6. Tara Owens on October 29, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    After the night I had last night, I needed this. The darkness swallowed me.

    Reply
  7. Rhodara Shreve on October 30, 2013 at 1:23 am

    Love this…posted to facebook to share….thank you for this one. I needed it too….

    Reply
  8. Melinda Viergever Inman on October 30, 2013 at 11:57 am

    I’m right there. Thank you, John. Tomorrow I’m blogging on this and linking to your poem.

    Reply
  9. Brave :: Show Know Grow on October 31, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    […] you’re struggling through recovery, if just getting out of bed today was an act of extreme courage, daily turn to those passages in bold. Let the truth soak in. […]

    Reply
  10. Tab on November 2, 2013 at 8:48 am

    You may not know this, but you wrote this for me.

    Reply
  11. Barbara Comito on November 3, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    This reminds me of a Celtic prayer a friend shared with me recently: “Awaken us to your glory. Dispel the darkness of night. Awaken us to your glory. Destroy the heaviness of our hearts. Awaken us to your glory.” I love the idea of being a skipping stone of bravery. May it be so.

    Reply
  12. brian on November 4, 2013 at 7:25 am

    This poem touched me, thanks.

    Reply
  13. The bravest thing | Muse & Meander on November 20, 2013 at 12:35 pm

    […] maybe the bravest thing is opening your eyes in the morning and placing your two feet on the cold floor and rising up against the gravity of the night.   continue reading […]

    Reply
  14. What I [was] into in Autumn 2013 | a temporary stay on December 9, 2013 at 3:54 am

    […] “the bravest thing” (John @ the beautiful due): “…what the/surface of the world needs most/of all is bravery skipping and/you, yes you are the stone.” […]

    Reply
  15. katiehusby on September 12, 2015 at 4:29 am

    Dear John,

    Thank you for this poem. I come back to it often, usually when I have a rough day. My husband is deployed right now, and just spent this week taking my Mom to the hospital and finding out the cancer has returned. So, it does feel like the bravest thing for me is to open my eyes and get out of bed and serve my three boys and mom. And wait for my husband’s return.
    ~ Katie

    Reply

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