Day 3: C is for Courage

   Nelson Mandela once said, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
   I know a man who perfectly lived out the truths professed in this quote. He is the most wonderful person I've ever known. He is kind, loving, generous, intelligent, perfect, and beautiful in every way that word can be used. But I have treated him terribly, and because of many things I've done, he was unjustly punished.
   He was terrified when he learned he would be the one to pay for my wrongdoings. He was full of fear and anxiety and dread. He fell to his knees, and wept, and prayed, but in the end he fully understood that the difficult way was the only way.
   This man was brutally tortured and killed because of me, and he was afraid the whole time. But he understood that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. He conquered his fear through radical love, and because of his courage, I am now victorious.