For Courage

When the light around lessens
And your thoughts darken until
Your body feels fear turn 

Cold as a stone inside,

When you find yourself bereft
Of any belief in yourself And all you unknowingly
Leaned on has fallen,

When one voice commands
Your whole heart,
And it is raven dark,

Steady yourself and see
That it is your own thinking
That darkens your world.

Search and you will find
A diamond-thought of light,

Know that you are not alone,
And that this darkness has purpose;
Gradually it will school your eyes,
To find the one gift your life requires
Hidden within this night-corner.

Invoke the learning
Of every suffering
You have suffered.

Close your eyes.
Gather all the kindling
About your heart
To create one spark
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark
Of its weight of festered fear.

A new confidence will come alive
To urge you towards higher ground
Where your imagination
will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!

“For Courage,” by John O’Donohue

With Prayers and Blessings for Ukraine (with-heart-and-hands.com

https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2022/03/for-courage.html

https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2022/02/go-to-limits-of-your-longing-and-pray.html

Happy National Quilting Day
March 19, 2022

Michele Bilyeu Creates With Heart and Hands as she shares her imaginative, magical, and healing journey from Alaska to Oregon. Creating, designing, sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, from my heart and with my hands