In these times of political and social upheaval, two forthcoming books and one sold-out 2023 title share a common thread: a ringing call to bravery in dangerous or difficult times offering advice on facing challenges with spiritual steel.
When Washington, D.C.'s Episcopal bishop, Mariann Edgar Budde, called on President Donald Trump, at a televised prayer service last month, to show mercy toward LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and those who love and care for them, it wasn't her first moment of public bravery. Indeed, the presses are rolling even now on a rush second printing of her 2023 book, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moment in Life and Faith (Avery).
That book begins with her 2020 challenge to first-term President Trump to show "moral leadership" after the murder of George Floyd. In the book, Budde writes: "We all want to be brave when it counts—to be the one who steps up, leans in, and does the right thing when it matters most." The way people can brace for decisive action, she continues, is by aligning themselves with the Bible's moral teachings and "persevering in faithfulness."
It doesn't matter how unworthy or unprepared people may feel, according to Budde's book. They can summon courage because, she writes, drawing from 2 Corinthians 2:7, "We know deep in our bones 'that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.' "
Politics and culture wars are not the only fields of spiritual battle these days. In her book The Real Conversation Jesus Wants Us to Have: A Call to Bravery, Peace, and Love (Eerdmans, Mar.), author Regina Cates calls on believers to question "why present-day Christianity is often characterized by fear, judgment, and egotism." People of good faith can rise to confront sexual abuse, racism, religious and political corruption, abortion, and challenges over sexual orientation when they commit to "to more fully embody Jesus’s message by taking up his call to love our neighbors as ourselves," per the book's acquiring editor, Lisa Ann Cockrel.
It helps to have role models who embody bravery in critical moments. In her book Brave Woman, Mighty God: 30 Things You Can Do (Kregel, Mar.), author Laura L. Smith provides 30 examples of women in the Bible who show courage even when they were "falsely accused, in tumultuous relationships, in danger, burdened by responsibilities, or balancing work and family," according to the publisher. Their strength, wisdom, and bravery were all, Smith writes, "empowered by God."
Kregel marketing associate Sarah Cross said that women today are often "tired, burned out, and fearful. But Laura shows us through 30 women of the Bible that we can do the things we’re called to do because we have God’s strength and the Holy Spirit’s power enabling us." Her book, Cross continued, tells believers: "We don’t have to live in fear; we don’t have to go through life alone and with only our limited resources."
