"Courage is sometimes frail as hope is frail: a fragile shoot between two stones that grows brave toward the sun though warmth and brightness fail, striving and faith the only strength it knows"

Courage and hope are often imagined as mighty forces, yet Frances Rodman delicately unveils their vulnerability. She draws a vivid image: both qualities as fragile as a tender shoot sprouting between two hard stones. Despite its exposed position, the sprout reaches boldly upward, defying the likelihood of survival. The "frail shoot" embodies the essence of courage and hope, neither invincible nor guaranteed success, but persisting regardless of the harshness of circumstance.

Growth here is not dependent on favorable conditions. Sunlight, warmth, and brightness may be absent, pointing to moments in life when encouragement and support are missing or when outcomes seem uncertain. Yet, the shoot continues to grow, illustrating that courage and hope thrive not from external reassurance, but from something internal and ineffable. Striving, or the effort to push ahead despite obstacles, and faith, the belief in the possibility of growth even without evidence, become the roots from which strength is drawn.

Rodman’s metaphor highlights the paradox of courage and hope: their very power lies in their persistence when threatened by adversity. True courage is not the absence of fear or struggle, but the resolve to keep moving forward in spite of them. Similarly, hope does not require certainty or immediate reward; it requires a willingness to believe that something better can come, even when every indicator suggests otherwise.

The image of the shoot reaching for the sun becomes an emblem for all who find themselves constricted by difficult circumstances but continue to reach for something higher. By emphasizing frailty and the lack of external support, Rodman dignifies quiet, everyday acts of persistence. Even the most delicate expressions of courage and hope are brave, because they require trust in the value of striving and faith in the unseen, a strength that needs no accolade, only its own quiet determination.