Ask the average person what the most important thing in life is and chances are that, after negating money, holidays and Steve Jobs’ gadgets, they will answer: Love. Ah, amor vincit omnia – love conquers all.
Courage, not just love, conquers all
Yet the theme of this year’s Refugee week is not Love. It is Courage. Indeed, only think of that love-letter you never sent: love wouldn’t conquer anything, if not for a spoonful of courage.
Courage: the ability to deal with pain, fear and adversity. Dealing with precisely those things that affected so many refugees’ lives before they found their safe haven.
Choosing to leave your home and culture is a huge step – ask any GAP-year student experiencing jitters leaving for Australia ( though safe in the knowledge that they speak English and can choose to return to sunny Glasgow if it doesn’t suit them).
Incomprehensible courage – into the unknown
However, leaving – not of your own choice – and not knowing when or if you will ever return, takes an incomprehensible courage. To remove yourself from a familiar place and people to anywhere that is safe, requires significant fortitude – the mental and emotional strength required to face difficulty and adversity.
In short: living takes courage.
This week as we continue to prepare for Refugee Week Scotland – it seems it’s about much more than raising awareness of refugee lives or showcasing talent. It is a celebration of human strength, of courage, the will to survive: a quality that binds us all – no matter where we come from, where we are going and no matter where we live.
