Like a Kite

"When Dad died," the young lady remarked, "Mom allowed herself to die along with him. Her body was still alive, of course, but her spirit seemed to shrivel up and disappear."

How sad it is when people give up on living before life is really over. God has appointed our birth date and our death date.

It is up to us to make the very most of all the dates in between. Sometimes, going on is the hardest thing to do. It would be much easier to give up and quit trying.

Cloistered in an emotional shell, life doesn't hurt so much -- but there's no joy in existing that way. John F. Kennedy said, "There is, in addition to a courage with which men die, a courage by which men must live." In difficult times, we must possess the courage to live. No matter what happens, we can make the best of it.

Annie Dillard, in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, remarked, "Our bodies are shot with mortality -- our legs are fear and our arms are time. That is why physical courage is so important. It fills, as it were, the holes."

Courage is not the absence of fear. Someone has said, "Courage is fear that has said its prayers." "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3

One person with courage can make a tremendous difference.

During the war of 1812, Andrew Jackson observed, "One man with courage makes a majority."

"Courage is a man who keeps on -- coming on!" said Captain McNelly of the Texas Rangers, "Yes, you can slow a man like that, but you can't stop him. The man who keeps coming on, is either going to get there himself, or he is going to make it possible for others to get there."

Stand strong! Stand steady! Be of good cheer!

If you have courage, you're like a kite. The stronger the winds blow, the higher you go!