PERSEVERANCE

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June 23, 2021

Carry On!       (Robert Service)

It’s easy to fight when everything’s right,

And you’re mad with thrill and the glory;

It’s easy to cheer when victory’s near,

And wallow in fields that are gory.

It’s a different song when everything’s wrong,

When you’re feeling infernally mortal;

When it’s ten against one, and hope there is none,

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

      Carry on! Carry on!

   There isn’t much punch in your blow.

You are glaring and staring and hitting out blind;

You are muddy and bloody, but never you mind.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   You haven’t the ghost of a show.

It’s looking like death, but while you’ve a breath,

       Carry on, my son! Carry on! 

And so in the strife of the battle of life

It’s easy to fight when you’re winning;

It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,

When the dawn of success is beginning.

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;

The man who can fight to Heaven’s own height

Is the man who can fight when he’s losing.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Things never were looming so black.

But show that you haven’t a cowardly streak,

And though you’re unlucky you never are weak.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Brace up for another attack.

It’s looking like hell, but – you never can tell:

      Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the desert of doubt

And some who in brutishness wallow;

There are others, I know, who in piety go

Because of a Heaven to follow.

But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

Why, there’s the real sunshine of living.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There’s big work to do, and that’s why you are here.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this be your cry!

      Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

May 19, 2021

Bill Bennett, from his Camino book “The Way, My Way:”

I spent the day climbing up towards those snow-capped mountains that mysteriously got closer and closer the longer I walked. It amazed me, that I could change the geography of the world around me, by simply walking. I could never get over it. I would stand on a hill and look into the distance and see a village. And then I’d set off, and within a few hours I was actually walking into that village. The power of the small step. A lot of small steps gets you extraordinary distances. If you keep taking those small steps. I began to think of what else I could achieve, through small steps, Through increments. If I ate a little less each day, I could lose weight. If I did a little more exercise each day I could get fitter. If I spent a little less each day I could save more. You don’t have to take big strides. Little steps are fine, but just keep taking them. And then you find you’ve walked across a country. 

May 20, 2021

 “Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.”  2 Timothy 4:1 (MSG)  

May 21, 2021

Love never gives up…but keeps going to the end.        1 Corinthians 13:4,7 (my paraphrase)

“This man was born in 1809.
In 1816, at age 7, he was forced to work because his family was expelled.
In 1818, he lost his mother.
In 1828, he lost his sister.
In 1831, he opened his first business and went bankrupt.
In 1832, he stood in the legislative elections and lost.
In 1833, he borrowed money to open another business and went bankrupt again.
In 1835, he met a wonderful woman. He falls in love with her, they get engaged, and she dies.
In 1836, he entered a dark period of his life: deep depression.
He remains bedridden for 6 consecutive months. But he gets up.
He gets up and in that same year of 1836 he runs in the legislative elections and loses again.
In 1840 he presented himself as an elector; he loses.
In 1842, he met the woman he would end his life with.
They fall in love, get engaged, get married and she gives him 4 children and they lose 3 (three).
In 1843, he appeared at the congresses and lost.
In 1845, he appeared again at the congresses and lost again.
In 1850, his son died.
In 1854, he ran for the Senate and lost.
In 1856, he ran for Vice President, he didn’t even have 100 votes.
In ’58, he ran again for the Senate and lost again.

And in 1860 ABRAHAM LINCOLN was elected President of the United States of America 🇺🇸.
He was elected for two exceptional terms (he was assassinated in beginning of the second term.) He was one of the most respected and impactful Presidents in the history of the United States 🇺🇸.”

It’s important to tell this story of perseverance because we see the hero, but we don’t see the backstage of the afflictions. 

Wow. …
I think this is a great example of Never Never Never Give Up!