Millions Of Drops Of Water

My youngest son is perhaps the most persistent human being on the face of the earth.  If he requests something of you and is denied, he will almost assuredly ask again, immediately.  

And if he gets the same reply, he will continue to ask unabated until your patience runs out and you say something sinister through clenched teeth like, "I said 'No!'  Now go ahead and ask me again... just go ahead.  See what happens."  

Honestly, there have been moments when that or something like that has been said and my boy will pause, and actually consider trying it out.  He's that persistent.  

It is my fervent hope that he will one day channel that persistent nature of his to do awesome things in the world.  Because sometimes you have to keep at it if you want the world to change.  Sometimes if you want justice, you have to seek it relentlessly.  

Jesus got this.  He once told a parable about a widow who kept appearing before a judge wanting him to decide a case in her favor.  She never stopped showing up, and finally, the judge gave her what she wanted, simply because he realized she was never going to quit asking for justice.  

Theologian Hyun Kyung Chung once paraphrased an ancient Asian proverb this way: 

Learn from the water.Water seems soft, yielding, and flexible.Millions of drops of water, however, make a hole in the rock. 

And you might get tired of asking.  You might grow weary in doing good.  You might find yourself frustrated that the world around you isn't changing for the better.  You may wonder if it's worth even trying.  

Author Joan Chittister offers these words of encouragement that I pass on to you.  

 Life is a matter of going on beyond the possible.  When the work is draining but we do it despite that because others will suffer if we do not, we are fully alive. 

May you find new strength and resolve to redouble your efforts to do good in the world, seek justice, act mercifully and walk humbly where God might be leading you.  May you discover new reservoirs of hope to draw upon, and may you never, ever give up.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.