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While everyone would agree that running into a burning building to save another's life is a true act of bravery, there are other forms of bravery besides such extreme physical deeds. Emotional and psychological bravery can be just as daunting.

In this brilliant, wise, and inspired book, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C. (and the first woman elected to this important position), shows us how to be brave. Or, rather, she shows how we are already brave in our lives, pointing out acts of bravery we no doubt have accomplished even if we didn't think of them as being acts of courage.

The seven chapters each focus on a specific kind of bravery, such as making the decision to go—to go somewhere in your life that you never thought possible or doing something that just gives you the shivers when you contemplate it. It's also brave to decide to stay, be it in a job, a marriage, a life that is not fulfilling but serves others in vital ways. There is bravery in deciding to start something new, and there is a very special kind of courage in accepting what you did not choose, such as a cancer diagnosis for a loved one. Stepping up to the plate is more than a baseball analogy; it's also how we practice courage in some of the most daunting situations. When we do brave things, it's common to experience a letdown after. Finally, there is bravery in perseverance.

Just in writing this book, Budde shows us what bravery is. She models it. This is a deeply personal book in which she bares her soul to us, revealing things she has done in her own life—some of which are truly heroic and some of which are truly humiliating. But her daring honesty is inspirational. Budde was viewed as heroic when she stood up to then President Trump when he waved a Bible (upside down) in front of St. John's Episcopal Church on June 1, 2020, proclaiming very un-Christian sentiments. And she was deeply humiliated and saddened after unwittingly insulting the Jewish community during a Christmas Eve sermon nearly a decade ago given in the pulpit of Washington National Cathedral.

In addition to stories about her own life—from childhood to the present day—Budde draws on timeless stories in the Bible from Abraham to Esther to Jesus, as well as prominent people, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Pauli Murray, Martin Luther King Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Madeleine Albright, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., and The Most Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. And it doesn't stop there. She also includes wise words from novels and nonfiction books, including those written by Anne Tyler, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joan Chittister, Frederick Buechner, Walter Brueggemann, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bruce Feiler, Rachel Held Evans, and Dr. Brené Brown.

I am in awe of Bishop Marianne Edgar Budde for the strength, courage, and resilience to write this book and share her life stories and those of others so we, dear readers, can reap the benefit of her wisdom and experience.

As Winnie the Pooh so eloquently said, "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Read this book, and you will believe that you are brave!