Contemplative Service Materials – The Shoreline of Courage

Thought for contemplation :

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”
– Nelson Mandela 

Contemplative Reading #1:

“Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” 

By Maya Angelou 

Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all 

Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn’t frighten me at all 

Mean old Mother Goose Lions on the loose
They don’t frighten me at all 

Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn’t frighten me at all. 

I go boo
Make them shoo I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild 

Life doesn’t frighten me at all. 

Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn’t frighten me at all. 

Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don’t frighten me at all. 

That new classroom where Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls) They don’t frighten me at all. 

Don’t show me frogs and snakes And listen for my scream,
If I’m afraid at all
It’s only in my dreams. 

I’ve got a magic charm That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor And never have to breathe. 

Life doesn’t frighten me at all Not at all
Not at all. 

Life doesn’t frighten me at all. 

* * *

Today, let’s explore together
what it means to be courageous, even if we are not frightened at all! 

* * *

Contemplative Reading #2

A Litany for Survival By Audre Lorde 

For those of us who live at the shoreline standing upon the constant edges of decision crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours; 

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive. 

And (so) when the sun rises we are afraid it might not remain 

when the sun sets we are afraid it might not rise in the morning 

when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid we may never eat again 

when we are loved we are afraid love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid love will never return 

and when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent 

we are still afraid 

So – – – it is better to speak remembering
we – – were never meant to survive. 

“A Litany for Survival.” Copyright © 1978 by Audre Lorde, from The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde. Copyright © 1997 by the Audre Lorde Estate. 

Song:

“Swimming to the Other Side” by Pat Humphries