Bravery: Jessie Bloss

[Beautiful Future - XVIII]

My friend Sarah writes poetry for fun and a few months ago she wrote this:

“Do something brave today. Do something you’ve never done before. Don’t wait to be invited, instead, initiate. Do something outside your expertise and marvel at your imperfections, for they show growth. And realize that the braveness comes not by doing things, but by braving things.”

The future is made beautiful by the ways we brave today.

Bravery can be heard in the question, Can you help me? It can be seen in taking time to uncover something new. Answer questions, but ask them, too:

What can the poor teach us?
What good is playfulness?
Why does creativity matter?
Who are we becoming on the way to where we’re going?

In Sarah’s words I find a hopeful spirit of discovery and longing. It’s a spirit we all possess, helping us seek something deeper, even when we can’t see it and it feels like we’ll never find it.

The Kingdom is coming, not going. Braving together the world—in its fragility and incompleteness—today is the faithful work required to prepare the way for a beautiful future.

Perhaps the brave step for today starts by simply asking for help.

[Jessie has an uncanny ability to hold seemingly disparate interests in balance: justice, design, ministry, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development— she’s on a mission, and she’s brave!]