The very word frightens many. It enters our lives when there is pain. Who needs courage if the going is easy?
In fact, the word is grounded in the French, Coeur, or heart. In Consolations, David Whyte writes that, "Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life."
It is always easier to hide. That is why I have always admired my daughter's courage. Tia was only fifteen when she stepped onto the track at the huge Ohio Stadium to participate in the finals of the 4 x 800 meter relay. Ten thousand people filled the stands. The state championship was at stake.
It is hard enough to run a half mile full speed against the toughest competition. It is harder still to do so in a relay where each runner is under pressure. Of course, the bigger the lead you hand your teammate the better you have fulfilled your responsibility.
It takes courage. 
When my daughter, running in the second slot, took the baton her team was tied. When she handed it off (right,) she was thirty yards ahead. Her team broke the state record. It was 1987. They held it for another twenty years.
After such a performance most would rest. Instead, Tia ran two more races totaling over three miles & won medals in both.
This week, the team members were inducted into their school's Hall of Fame. At the ceremony an important truth emerged. These four women, mothers & professionals, have translated their courage as girls into a "heartfelt participation with life."
Courage is a choice. Fail to choose it & fail to live. There is no consolation for that.
-Erie Chapman
Photo 1: Tia & Dad 1987; Photo 2: Tia hands baton to Maggie ; Photo 3: Holding Hall of Fame certificates, 2017. L to R: Tia Chapman Pierotti, Karen Saah, Maggie McLeod Bowers, Jibs Thorson Oefinger.
Journal of Sacred Work 
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