Whether you agree with their take on school shootings and violence in our society or not, you really do have to admire the courage, articulateness and resilience of the Parkland, Florida, survivors of last week's horrendous school shooting. They are speaking out, and they are putting their money where their mouths are by traveling to the state capitol to ask for a ban on assault weapons. They're doing this just days after having lived through a frightening experience that most of us will never have to face.
I don't know about you, but I draw courage from this myself. If young teens who have only recently survived a near-death experience can find their voices, I ought to be able to find mine when it comes to speaking up for justice when and where I see the need for it.
Researcher and author Brené Brown says that the root of the word "courage" is "cor"—a Latin word for heart. So in an early form, the word courage meant "to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." I do believe that's what these young survivors are doing.
Can you and I do the same? If there are things we deeply believe and on which we hold back from speaking out, can we find the courage to tell what's in our hearts?
It's worth trying, isn't it? These young people can model courage for us all!
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