Welcome to week 1 of the Windows to Wonder writing prompts, offered to us by our special contributor Rev. Laura Franks Benton of Just Brave Enough. You can learn more about Pastor Laura and Just Brave Enough in our latest episode of our Bible study companion podcast.
Borrowing Strength for Inspirational Poetry
We prep ourselves for creative writing by centering ourselves in this poem.
We unaccustomed to courage,
exiles from delight,
live coiled,
and shells of loneliness.
Until love leaves its high
holy temple,
comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives and in its train
come ecstasies.
Old memories of pleasure,
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
in the flush of love’s light.
We dare to be brave,
and suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
— Maya Angelou
Lent is often a season of stripping away, of quiet reflection, of looking inward. But it is also a time of courage—courage to turn toward love, even when love requires everything from us.
Maya Angelou’s words remind us that love is not passive; it is an active, liberating force. It calls us out of our loneliness and fear. It strengthens us to be bold. It asks everything of us—and in return, it sets us free.
In these days, when the world feels uncertain and we wrestle with where we belong, how we should act, and what it means to be faithful, we can borrow courage from those who have walked this path before us. Borrowing strength from the lives of others—those in history, in literature, in scripture— is an act of faithfulness. God has gifted us with models of those who have shown great love in the face of fear.
This Week’s Window to Wonder Writing Prompt:
Create a list of people—biblical, historical, fictional, contemporary—who embody courage. Who can you draw strength from? Who has shown love so boldly that it changed the world around them?
Then, choose one of them. Write a letter or a poem to this person. Tell them what their story means to you. Let their courage become your own.
Because love—costly, wild, unrelenting love—is the only thing that truly sets us free.
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