May 2022 Touchstones Ministry Theme: Courage

May 1: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” ~ Ambrose Redmoon

May 2: “People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fiber called courage.” ~ Mignon McLaughlin

May 3: “Courage is as often the outcome of despair as of hope; in the one case we have nothing to lose, in the other everything to gain.” ~ Diane de Poitiers

May 4: “When we are afraid, we ought not to occupy ourselves with endeavoring to prove that there is no danger, but in strengthening ourselves to go on in spite of the danger.” ~ Mark Rutherford

May 5: “Courage is a gift. Those having it never know for sure if they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.” ~ Carl Sandburg

May 6: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” ~ Mark Twain

May 7: “To live with fear and not be afraid is the final test of maturity.” ~ Edward Weeks

May 8: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” ~ C.S. Lewis

May 9: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” ~ Winston Churchill

May 10: “One person with courage makes a majority.” ~ Andrew Jackson

May 11: “The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” ~ Charles Dubois

May 12: “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” ~ Maya Angelou

May 13: “The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.” ~ Carrie Jones

May 14: “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

May 15: “Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.” ~ Mignon McLaughlin

May 16: “Courage is grace under pressure.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

May 17: “Something happens to me when I witness someone’s courage. They may not know I’m watching and I might not let them know. But something happens to me that will last me for a lifetime. To fill me when I’m empty, and rock me when I’m low.”  Holly Near

May 18: “But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.” ~ Rollo May

May 19: “It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before… to test your limits… to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anaïs Nin

May 20: “The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity. Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity…these are the choices that measure your life. Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.” ~ Source Unknown

May 21: “Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.” ~ Ray Bradbury

May 22: “…part of us dies when we know that something is wrong, yet do nothing. We could call this radical dignity. We don’t have to tackle every issue, but if we remain silent in the face of cruelty, injustice, and oppression, we sacrifice part of our soul.” ~ Paul Rogat Loeb

May 23: “Love makes us human; courage makes us extraordinary.” ~ Faryal K. Kharal

May 24: “Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.” ~ Shannon L. Alder

May 25: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

May 26: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

May 27: “There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” ~ J. K. Rowling

May 28: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher

May 29: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” ~ Harper Lee

May 30: “Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.” ~ Alice M. Swaim

May 31: “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ~ Seneca