Half the Sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide

Deep within all of us there is a yearning to be brave. And like all of our deepest, truest and best yearning, it comes from how we were made.Courage-the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard- resonates deeply with the original shape of our soul.

The victims of injustice in our world do not need our spasms of passion they need our long obedience in the same direction - our legs and lungs of endurance And we need sturdy stores of joy.

One of the biggest regrets of life, I think, is a sense of having gone on the trip but missed the adventure.

Let us start with the biggest no brainer of injustice in the world and that is slavery.

We must start talking differently about poverty--and start doing something differently.

If you're wrestling with some sort of decision, reflect for a moment and ask yourself, Am I being brave, or am I being safe? In the end, it depends on whether we think God can be trusted.

The fact is, when people choose to be brave instead of smart, their courage is generally so threatening to those who are smart rather than brave that they end up being maligned, not congratulated. This is what the Bible says we can expect.

When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the voiceless and the vulnerable in our era needed leaders of compassion and purpose, I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time.

Justice is doing for others what we would want done for us.

We can help the work of justice by preparing for a marathon, not a sprint. A long obedience in the same direction

God has a plan to help bring justice to the world - and his plan is us.

And here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians – and I believe this is the choice of our age: Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly, our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both.