Courage
Tonight was Kol Nidre for the year 5777
It’s the time when Jews begin our fast
And atone for the sins of the past year.
The service includes a sermon from the Rabbi
Tonight’s sermon dealt with courage
But not the courage I’ve always thought of
To me courage was strapping on an air tank
Picking up a hose and going into a burning building
Or helping someone in a critical medical situation
Get the help they needed in time
It was taking the path least traveled
Sticking with your convictions
Even in the face of long odds
Going it alone if necessary
It was courage that is related to will
The will to survive
The will to succeed
The will to triumph
Tonight’s courage was much different
Because it was linked with vulnerability
It was the courage to look inside
The courage to show honesty, emotion, fear and compassion
Courage for those closest to you
Courage to all that depend on you
Courage to face yourself
It’s showing emotion and fear
Being honest with compassion
Being able to cry
So that you can open up to the core
I owe someone that courage
Someone who deserved better
Because I never faced the courage needed to be open
The courage to face what was happening to us
I may never get the chance
To make up for what has come before
And that’s a shame
But without courage
You live with the aftermath
The outcome of things unsaid
The fear and emotion of feelings undone
But at least I will have learned
Learned to step out from behind the wall
To have the courage to face it all
To step into the light without reservation
And while I may have forever lost someone
Whose heart I didn’t hold carefully
I can say I have learned
Because I cried when I wrote this in my mind
And that must be the first step
In finding the courage
From somewhere deep inside