Courage. Love. Hope.

Isn’t this a beautiful statement? It came in a daily email from Sojourners. I read it four or five times in a row, soaking in it, knowing some of what it meant for Dorothy Day, wondering much about what it might mean for me.

Where do I feel – and take on – some of the pain of the world? What are the acts of love I have, do, and will perform just because? Where does my courage and love and hope enable or offer the same to others?

I don’t have answers to these questions. I have some ideas, some thoughts. And I have more to consider. This taking on the pain of the world and increasing courage, love, and hope is not the kind of thing one does and then crosses off their to-do list. It’s not the kind of thing that one plans, schedules, or organizes. Rather, it feels like the kind of person one is or hopes to become.

So, even as I type, I circle back with more questions than answers…

One answer I do have, however, is that I’d love for this quote to be true about me; not so that such could be said, but because it’s how I want to live: in courage, love, and hope. Maybe the taking-on-the-pain-of-the-world part just comes, appears, evolves, happens when I constantly opt for courage, love, and hope – for myself and on behalf of others. Now that I’ve typed it and can see it on the screen, I think I might be right.

If I live in courage it means I stand up for truth, justice, equality, beauty, life, love. The converse: I cannot sit back and watch others be harmed, mistreated, ignored, or marginalized. To live in courage is taking on the pain of the world.

If I live in love it means that I choose, over and over, to cherish the best in and for others (though I’ll quickly insert that such is not at the expense or harm of myself). The converse: I cannot swim in realms of selfishness, greed, jealousy, or resentment. To live in love is taking on the pain of the world.

If I live in hope it means that I pursue goodness, faithfulness, imagination, dreams, and beauty on behalf of myself and others. The converse: I cannot succumb to cynicism, skepticism, denial, boredom, resignation, the status quo. To live in hope is taking on the pain of the world.

Not easy, this courage, love, and hope stuff. But oh, so beautiful. Dorothy Day understood the nature of this work, this goal, this aspiration: never to be perfect, holy, or set-apart, she was earthy, real, and present in the lives of those with whom she lived and worked. Maybe it’s best embodied in her statement below:

Maybe taking on the pain of the world is the stuff of everyday living. Not pursuing sainthood, just living life. In doing so, somehow, I experience and express courage, love, and hope.

I’m in.