Still in Women’s History month and I ran onto this: “I believe in the same pay for the same work. Don’t you?” That was Louisa May Alcott, American author in 1874, right not 2023! Curious how this issue has never really been settled.
I was thinking about determination and laziness. I am more the latter, but determination has found its way through the human story so many times. Maybe another word is endurance? What have you endured in your life that shows just how brave you are? Childbirth, a fire, hospitalization, passing exams they all require us to get on with it, yet we ae often surprised that we did.
Do you remember the book Pigs Might Fly? By Dick-King Smith, the English author? Well, “He was a determined young pig, and he had a dream; he wanted to fly!” Now that might feel just a bit over the top, do pigs fly? Well people who have been very unwell, are healed; athletes at teenager level become great as they mature; things we never imagined happen in our lives and we are astounded. Other things we need to work for and in the end, they too position us to realize that endurance pays off. The great Wilma Rudolph, a US track star once remarked: “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired a sense of determination. This sense of spirit that I would never, never give up. No matter what else happened.”
When people work together for some goal determination is usually at the center. To avoid arguments, disagreement, and plain old jealousy when that thing is to be done, endurance and keeping one’s eyes on the prize is paramount. To finally discover that something is more important than I am! To discover that others and their ideas are a least as brilliant as mine. To discover that hope rides on the constant promise that if we are determined the good might just be accomplished.
Booker T. Washington said it better: “There was never a time in my youth, no matter how dark and discouraging the days might be, when one resolve did not continually remain with me, and it was the determination to secure an education at any cost.” That great educator never allowed some of the most horrific things to derail him. No by his own education he educated others.
Finally, Laura Ingalls Wilder, US author of On The Shores of Silver Lake reminds us of this: “If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it’s pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting.” That includes work for peace. Work for justice. Work for love.
BLESSINGS
