Perseverance
Our Gospel reading for today in the Daily Office begins with these words: “Jesus told the disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) These words have lost none of their power in the two millennia since they were first written. In every life situation, no matter how difficult, no matter how frustrating, no matter how painful, no matter how tempted you are to throw in the towel and give up, you can be sure that you are not using all your strength if you have not asked for divine guidance.
In these troubled times—with all the uncertainty of the pandemic and its effect on various businesses and the economy, with the problems of racial tension and political division that threaten our sense of community, and with the struggles many families face about how and where their children go to school—we need to pray unceasingly for God’s help. Pray unceasingly for the safety of all medical personnel and first responders, pray for healing for those who are sick and compassion for those who have lost loved ones and friends, pray for parents and teachers, pray for those researching a vaccine for Covid-19, pray for wisdom for all our leaders on the federal, state and local levels, and, most of all, pray for ourselves and our fellow citizens that we may find common ground and restore that larger sense of community that leads to domestic tranquility and prosperity for all.
As we pray unceasingly we will begin to discover God’s will for us—we will begin to learn the strength of those who acknowledge their dependence upon God for life’s meaning and purpose; the peace of those who acknowledge that apart from God, there is no possibility of attaining wholeness of life; the faith of those who pray without ceasing and thus show the power and presence of God in everything they do; and the joy of those who rely on the miraculous healing power of love to transform their lives. As you do this, the Love of God will fill your life to overflowing and you will receive such blessings that there will not be room enough in your life to contain them. And then, despite the outward circumstances of your life, you will know true peace—that “peace that passes all understanding.”
